True Hope and Ultimate Despair
by haloguy432p
Summary: A story of an amnesiac who was released into the Tragedy, a man who only knows that he must find the Future Foundation. A story of a man fighting despair, and how living through the Tragedy will affect him. Rated M from Chapter 10 onwards. PS: The events in DR3 will be changed slightly in this.
1. The Beginning, or The End?

The Biggest, Most Awful, Most Tragic Event in Human History.  
Those are the only words capable of describing the state of the world. A world full of loss, death, and despair. In this world, the skies are tinted red, and the air worsens as this Tragedy rages on. A broken world, where murder occurs daily, and you never know when you could die and who you can trust. A world with no governments, no structure, no stability.

However, an organization called the 'Future Foundation' was created after some time. Run by those who still have hope, those who believe they can rid this world of despair, those who believe...

"That's a load of bullshit."

I should introduce myself. Well, I would, but I honestly don't know my name. I've forgotten it somehow. All I know is that I need to live. I don't know why, but I know I have something to do with this Tragedy. I'd better help you get an image of me. Last I checked I was 165cm. Appearance-wise... Not much, just whatever clothes I can find that fits and I can move freely in. I think I've got a pretty large build, but with almost everyone being a soldier it's kinda hard to judge. I've got green eyes, and I wear this black and orange cap. Dunno why I wear it, guess it just feels natural. Last thing I own is this backpack, where I keep a bunch of stuff. A flashlight, a notebook and 5 pens, some food and drinks I've picked up, and a loaded Beretta M9 just in case. So there, my introduction's done, and by now you might be wondering if I'm one of those specials from Hope's Peak, so I'll answer that question with another: Does it really matter? All those people with talent, they all ended up killing each other. They fell to despair, and brought the whole damn world with 'em.

Enough of that. Anyways I'm here, stuck in the remains of a 7-11. Well I can't sit around forever, I've gotta do something. I stand up and walk to my bag to get my notebook. I flip to the last page with words to remember how I got to this place.

 _"I'm running. Crossed one of those Despair bastards, the short one. Little shit pointed at me and yelled 'Get him' and just like that half a dozen yakuza-looking guys are on me. Must be Fuyuhiko. I'm gonna lose 'em and enter the first building I can hide in."_

Guess that means I need to be on alert. I close the book and toss it in the bag. I grab my gun and check it out. Don't want it to jam at a bad time. Nodding, I keep it and zip my bag. I walk up to the exit, where a few shelves have been pushed in front of it to block it. I start pushing them out of the way, and stretch before opening the door slightly. Peeking outside, the overwhelming smell of smoke rushes into my nostrils. Seeing no one, I fully open the door and walk outside.

"Alright, where was I going?" I pull out my notebook and read the entry before my 'encounter'.

 _"Alright, I found out. After lots of sneaking around, I've found it. The location of the Future Foundation's HQ. I must go there. There is no option. I must get there as quickly as possible."_

That's strange, I really feel like I need to go there. Well, there's a little map here. Oh that's great, I need to either fly or sail there. I close it and put it back, and start walking down the street. If memory serves me right, there's a pier somewhere over here. Well eventually I've gotta run into the ocean. As I walk I see some destroyed pavements, burning cars and fallen streetlights. Strange to think there was a time when these would've cause the entire road to be blocked off for repairs. Nowadays this stuff's pretty common. Wait, the hell is that? Some sort of... grunting? Listening, I find the source of the noise, a tall, absurdly muscular man whose eyes were practically glowing red. That must be... Nekomaru Nidai, the former Super High School Level Team Manager. And he's holding something... holy crap he's holding a dumpster, and not in a friendly way. He's gonna throw that big-ass hunk of metal at me! I turn around and run back down the road as I hear him yell, and sparing a glance to the side I saw a dumpster flying towards me, just as lightly as a thrown tennis ball. I see, he aimed ahead of me so I'd run into it's path. I turn around and run back again, this time rushing for him. The dumpster crashes into the road behind me and he raises his fists, prepared to fight. I stop across the intersection from him, staring at him.

"Nekomaru Nidai, one of the Ultimate Despair. You are confident and have a right to be. I can't win this fight. However, I don't play fair when it comes to life or death."

Finishing my sentence, I run at him, and he raises his arms defensively. I stop right in front of him, and punch his defense. He shrugs it off as expected, and pulls his fist back for a punch. I run into him and jump, raising my left knee, letting it smash into his jaw. Slightly dazing him, I turn back around and unstrap my bag. I throw it into his face, and he pushes it away. I've turned on my cap light and focused it, and now he should be blinded by the sudden light shining directly in his eyes. I bend down and grab a rock, and run to him again. I turn off the light with my other hand, and as his eyes focus on me as I jump and punch his nose. His head leans back as I land, and I kick his stomach, causing him to lean over, and shove the rock into his mouth. I run and pick up my bag before turning and running as fast as possible. I see another intersection and turn right, which should lead me closer to the pier. In the distance I hear him yell, before the area falls into silence again. The adrenaline still flowing through me, I continue running as far as I can, but eventually exhaustion sets in and I stop. Luckily, across the street is the remains of a mall. I walk over and quietly peek inside. Seeing no one nearby, I enter and walk around.

Still no one in sight, I begin to explore while reminiscing about the past. A jewelry store that would've probably drawn in dozens of interested young women and some men looking for a gift for their significant others. A restaurant where individuals, couples and families would've eaten in and talked over a meal. A library where people would waste some time reading an interesting novel, only to borrow it once they realized they had to leave. So many shops taken for granted in the past. The silence is quite unsettling in a place that used to be filled with chatter and footsteps on a daily basis. I see light shining from an electronics shop. I'd better check it out. As I enter I see the source, a large TV screen near the entrance. It's showing a group of young people gathered in a gym, focused on a black and white teddy bear. This must be the mutual killing game. I sit down and take out my notebook, flipping to the first few pages until I find it.

 _"In the early days of the Tragedy, Hope's Peak locked itself up with one class of students. Below are the people there, at least that I know of._

 _Makoto Naegi, Super High School Level Luck  
_

 _Kyoko Kirigiri, Super High School Level Detective_

 _Byakuya Togami, Super High School Level Scion_ _  
_

 _Yasuhiro Hagakure, Super High School Level Clairvoyant  
_

 _Celestia Ludenberg, Super High School Level Gambler  
_

 _Sakura Ogami, Super High School Level Fighter  
_

 _Hifumi Yamada, Super High School Level Otaku  
_

 _Mondo Owada, Super High School Level Biker  
_

 _Chihiro Fujisaki, Super High School Level Programmer  
_

 _Kiyotaka Ishimaru, Super High School Level Prefect  
_

 _Toko Fukawa/Genocider Syo, Super High School Level Novelist/Murderer  
_

 _Leon Kuwata, Super High School Level All Star  
_

 _Sayaka Maizono, Super High School Level Idol  
_

 _Aoi Asahina, Super High School Level Swimmer  
_

 _Mukuro Ikusaba, Super High School Level Soldier/Despair_

 _Junko Enoshima, Super High School Level Fashionista/True Despair_

 _Future self, update accordingly to record those who die throughout the game. As of now, Monokuma has only just been introduced to them. Note to self: Objective is to cleanse the Future Foundation before they gain too much power. My best guess is that I have until the end of this game. Failure means proceeding to plan B."_

The hell am I, a secret agent? Anyways, let's see here. I look at the screen and see the bear, Monokuma, with multiple stacks of cash. The students are talking among themselves, so now's a good time to check. Sakura, Celes, Hifumi, Byakuya, Toko, Kiyotaka, Makoto, Kyoko, Yasuhiro and Aoi are still alive. Just to make sure, I'll continue watching for any other survivors. I turn my attention back to the screen as they leave the room. After a few hours I stop, and write 'deceased' next to the names of those I didn't see. I pack up my notebook and leave the store, only to hear a some voices from the floor below me. I duck next to the railing and listen.

"Is this the last place you saw him?" A male voice spoke.

"Yeah, after the bastard nearly broke my jaw." Another replied. Must be Nekomaru.

"Alright fine. Everyone, spread out, and if you see him, inform me immediately. Shout, shoot, whatever, do not attack him alone. Peko, you stick with me. Nekomaru, take three of my guys and follow your instincts. Hey, did you hear me? I said move!" The first man yelled, before a bunch of footsteps started running around. That must be Fuyuhiko then. I gotta get out of here. I could barely stop Nekomaru, I can't take on him and Peko together, and definitely not with all of Fuyuhiko's gangsters. I walk run back into the store, grab a large TV and go back to the railing. I see Peko and throw the screen as hard as I can at her. As expected she hears it and easily cuts it in half, narrowing her eyes at me.

"There he is!" She yells, pointing with her sword. I run into the shop and go to the back where I see the emergency staircase. I open the door and run down, and I can hear a bunch of people storming the shop. They may try to cut me off, so I keep running down prepared to fight. As I reach the final flight of stairs I see Nekomaru and some gangsters blocking the exit. I look upstairs and see Peko with her sword drawn in front of Fuyuhiko. I turn around and look at the wall. I back up slowly, and Fuyuhiko speaks up.

"Listen asshole, you've got two options: You either come quietly or we'll knock your ass out and take you by force. Either way, you're gonna be coming with us."

"Good deal. Lemme propose something else. You ask Nekomaru there to give me a good old fashioned beating, and if I lose then I'll follow your despair-filled plans without resistance." I reply, expecting his confidence to be his undoing.

"You wanna fight him in here? Heh, you've got balls I'll give you that. Alright kid, buckle up. Nekomaru, You heard him. Get him back for that jaw trouble."

Nekomaru charged up the stairs and aimed his fist right for my head. With such speed I shouldn't be able to dodge reflexively, but I had expected this, so I got ready to move as soon as Fuyuhiko started talking. As the fist flew towards me I rolled to the side, and his fist collides with the wall, smashing through it and causing him to lose balance and fall face first to the ground outside.

"I'll be taking my leave." I say, nodding to Fuyuhiko and jumping down. Landing on Nekomaru and damaging him further I bolt down an alley on my left to the back of the mall. As I run I encounter a dead end, and I panic. There's no escape. Go back the way I came and I'll find all three of them pissed off. I can't climb this, it's too high. I think I'm dead. As I turn back around I see them. "Nekomaru, you recovered fast." I say, but my confidence is fading. Just looking at the three pairs of red eyes glaring at me is terrifying. I can't get out of this one. I'm doomed.

"You pulled a quick one on us there kid. But now you're fucked." Fuyuhiko said, as he nodded at Peko. She charged towards me, her sharp blade prepared to cut me apart.

"I suppose I'm dead." I say. This sucks. I couldn't find out my name or why I needed to go to the Future Foundation. Instead, I just became a pest for the Ultimate Despair to wipe out. I can't believe it. I close my eyes and await my death, and I hear her footsteps inch closer, and closer, and closer, and...

* * *

 **AN stuff:**

 **Soooo yeah here it is, a little story of mine I wanted to write. I honestly had no idea where I wanted to go with this... just kidding! I know what I wanna do, but I dunno if I wanna change some stuff. So to hold that thought, I ended with a pretty crappy cliffhanger! So the two things that have me stuck right now are whether I want to continue writing this in present tense AND first person (which is really weird to check through, and is this even a legitimate style?) or if I wanna go to the conventional third-person past tense perspective. The second thing holding me up is if people will even read this shit, and I'm pretty sure no one will but whatever, I can hope for the best. So yeah, that's about it, and if this gets any level of popularity I might continue it or just discontinue it at one chapter. So as always, review or message me, and any feedback so long as it's helpful is greatly appreciated.  
**

 _ **A picture is worth a thousand words  
But a thousand words can paint a picture**_


	2. Rescue Operation

**AN: I've decided to try typing this chapter the same way as the first, so hopefully I do this well. Enjoy**

* * *

Huh?

I feel a powerful gust of wind at my neck. That's strange. I had closed my eyes in acceptance of my death, so why do I still feel perfectly normal? I open my eyes to be met with a pair of seemingly glowing red ones mere inches away from me. That's right, Peko was supposed to kill me, so why am I still standing here?

"Master... what..."

Huh? Peko's saying something. 'Master' must mean Fuyuhiko. Her lips are moving but I don't hear anything. I have to focus dammit. I close my eyes to focus.

"Peko, come... Important... Could... Despair"

What the hell's wrong with me? I should be able to hear them fine unless they're whispering. No, even when Peko was in front of me I couldn't hear anything. Fine, focus on what I know. Fuyuhiko called her back, and they're discussing something important about despair. The feeling, the group or the twins I'm not sure. Fuyuhiko's walking to me. He stops a few meters away from me, and like a shadow Peko stands behind him. Her sword may be sheathed, but she's definitely on her guard.

"Hey kid. You looked ready to give up there. You didn't even fight back anymore or say something, you just quit. Why?" He asks. Fuyuhiko is talking to me for some reason. He's an Ultimate Despair, why is he bothering with this? I might as well answer him.

"Cause I had no escape. No need to be a sore loser. If I'm gonna die, and I can't do anything about it, that just means I screwed up." That's right. If it's over, then it's over. There's no point fighting a lost battle. Fuyuhiko looks like he's thinking. I wonder why he stopped Peko? Maybe he saw a potential use for me? Maybe to postpone my demise so I'd fall into despair first?

"Alright I got a proposal for ya." He says. This won't be good. "Earlier you refused to come with us, so you clearly aren't gonna come quietly. Now you have 2 options: either you follow us, no funny business, or Peko here will show ya what it feels like to lose all your limbs and die of blood loss."

Crap. He's serious, but what do I do? If I follow him, he'll do one of two things: Make me work for them, or torture me until I fall so far into despair I'm begging for death. If I don't go, I die right here right now, and not in a pretty way either. What do I do? Ah, I remember. I can't die, no matter what. I must survive this, no matter what.

"Alright. You win, feel free to torture me or whatever." I say. This is the only way to survive. At least for now, I need to go along with them. Fuyuhiko smirks, the cocky bastard.

"Great, it'd suck to lose another one. Follow us." He says, turning and walking away. Another one? Another what? It doesn't matter, I gotta follow him. He's talking to Nekomaru and Peko. Probably discussing where to take me. Nekomaru nods and runs, and Peko continues to stand by, her face remaining completely emotionless. I start walking, and I stop right behind them. Fuyuhiko reaches into his pocket and pulls out a tablet, and starts to call what I'm guessing is a ride. "Alright, I've called a couple cars over to pick us up." He says. "I'll be riding with you and Peko will be watching your every action. Make one move against me or her and you're dead, got it?"

A rhetorical question, but I nod nonetheless. It'd be best not to piss him off, at least not while his 'sword' is still here. Did I just call Peko a sword?

* * *

 _KNOCK KNOCK_

"Come in." I say. Yell would be more accurate with how big this room is. The door opens and in steps a man with messy blonde hair. Behind him enters a tall, muscular man with short dark greenish gray hair. "Mr. Kizakura, Mr. Sakakura, what is it?" I ask as they close the doors.

"No need to be so formal, Kyosuke." Kizakura says. "Anyway, I brought Juzo with me because I found something interesting, but I thought it'd be better for me to tell you both at the same time."

"Get to the damn point. I was in the middle of preparing the next few missions when you called me." Sakakura says impatiently. Kizakura simply laughs lightly, and nods.

"Alright alright. Basically, I found someone who looks like he could be useful. He seemed interesting so I got a few guys to record his actions and send the footage to me. He's fighting to survive out there alone, but he's still alive. Recently, he accidentally went to the same place as Ultimate Despairs Nidai, Kuzuryuu and Pekoyama. He managed to escape Kuzuryuu, and distracted Nidai enough to escape from him. But a few minutes ago, he tried to get away from them again and got cornered." He says, stopping.

"What does this have to do with us? If he's gone then you can't recruit him, right?" I ask, wondering what Kizakura could be thinking.

"Well, he was gonna die, but for some reason Kuzuryuu stopped Peko from killing him, and the last thing we saw was him giving himself up and getting in a car with them. So what I'm saying is that this guy managed to pull off some pretty amazing feats, and he could be really useful as one of us. The problem is, there isn't much time before-"

"I get it, you're asking if we can spare some resources to rescue him." I say, cutting him off. He could've said this from the start rather than try to convince us. "Well, if you think he's of that much importance, then I'm fine with helping. Juzo, are you on board?"

"Alright, fine. This guy better be as worth it as you say he is, Koichi." Juzo says as he prepares to leave. "Just call me if you need something. Gotta finish my work for today."

"Thanks, guys." Kizakura says as he too starts to leave. "You won't be disappointed, at least that's what I hope." He says, smiling as he closes the door. I damn well hope so, this guy's gonna cause us some trouble having to go offensive against the former Ultimate Yakuza.

* * *

"We've arrived." Fuyuhiko says. That's the only time he's spoken during this ride. I look out the window.

"We are?" I ask. It's too strange, he dragged me all the way over here to... well I don't actually know where I am.

"I just said so didn't I? We're here. C'mon, follow us." He replies as he exits the vehicle. Peko and I exit too but it's too unusual. This looks just the same as everywhere else in the world now, abandoned streets, burning vehicles, destroyed buildings and so on. Nevertheless I follow him, and I can practically feel Peko watching me. He continues to walk, and he clearly has a destination in mind, but where?

"Uhh... Fu- I mean, Mr. Kuzuryuu, where are we going?" I ask. I'm gonna address him formally just in case for now.

"You'll see." Is his only reply. Great. I'm either dead or at best he's gonna demonstrate what happens to 'bad kids' and show me a human slaughterhouse. Well I guess we just keep walking. Wonder how long this'll take.

 _ **1 hour later**_

At some point during this strange walk a bunch of weirdos with Monokuma heads showed up. We're coming up to a bridge, and although I expected it to be abandoned it's still eerie. For the first time since exiting the car, the yakuza spoke up.

"We're here. Now prepare for a show." He says, a faint smirk tugging at his lips. He continues walking and all of this unusual group follow him. As we near the middle of the bridge I see a slightly hunched over figure. As we keep walking it becomes clearer, and I see an old man with silver hair and a beard. What the hell's an old man doing out here?! "Peko."

What? I barely react before seeing Peko lunge forward from behind me. She runs towards him, and just as she slashes towards him, something blocks her and the sound of metal hitting metal rings through the silent bridge. Focusing I see a tall man with white well-kept hair wielding a blade against the Ultimate Swordswoman. He swings at her but she jumps back and stops next to Fuyuhiko. Subconsciously I had started backing up, and now I'm near the back of Fuyuhiko's small army watching intently. Now that I get to look properly I see that beyond the horribly polluted air I can just barely make out other figures, such as two giant muscular people, one of whom had a head shaped like a bull. Perhaps a mask? There was also another figure, not as muscular but definitely still very built. Not far back are a couple of silhouettes, but one seems to be two people, possibly one of whom is protecting the other. As I finish processing this information, a loud stomp directs my attention back to Peko and... wait, when did Nekomaru arrive? And... Who's that brown-haired girl? Must be... former Ultimate Gymnast Akane Owari, based on who I remember are Ultimate Despair. In the distance I see one of the figures take off his coat whilst another from further back jumps forward, his hands wielding different small weapons. I guess they're preparing to fight. Better watch closely...

* * *

 **15 minutes earlier**

"Munakata, not to doubt you or anything, but this is more than a little risky for one guy." Sakakura says, looking at me.

"I know Sakakura, but I trust Kizakura's word. If this person can help us as much as Kizakura thinks he can, I'm willing to take some risks." I reply. Of course this is risky. We invited the Ultimate Yakuza to meet us on a bridge for a fight. That's why so many of the heads of the Future Foundation are flying there together. "Besides, this is a rescue, not a battle. We're supposed to fight while Kizakura sneaks him away, then we'll retreat ASAP."

"I guess you've got a point. I trust you." Sakakura says, face full of determination.

"Are you sure you'll be okay, Kyosuke?" Asks the Ultimate Housekeeper hugging my arm, Chisa Yukizome.

"Don't worry, Chisa. We'll all get out of this fine." I reply with confidence. I will survive, Chisa. I won't allow your despair-fueled students to use me for despair. I pick up a radio. "Chisa, you and Daisaku take care of communicating with Kizakura. When the fight heats up, tell him he's good to go. I don't know what he's going to do exactly, but I can only hope it isn't too crazy."

Chisa nods, smiling as she takes the radio. "Good luck, Kyosuke." She says as we arrive at our destination. We all alight and the helicopters fly away to stay clear of the inevitable damage. I perform a quick head count and nod towards Tengan, who starts to lead the way. No one speaks anymore, all of us preparing in our own ways for a dangerous encounter.

* * *

The scene I bore witness to was something most people would probably pay to see. Hell if I didn't know any better I'd call this the shooting for a scene from an action movie. But no, this was real. Two hulking figures, one being Nekomaru and the other being the person wearing a bull mask, are engaging in a very heated fight, but interestingly for as muscular as Nekomaru is he's playing defensively, dodging as much as he can or blocking those he can't. Nearby, the Ultimate Swordswoman was actually struggling to break this tall man's defenses, and he very rarely attacked, only slashing when Peko was incapable of countering. Despite this, she still managed to move out of the way, and neither side had suffered any injuries yet. However a little further to the side was a slightly taller, more muscular man trying to punch Akane, who is constantly jumping around him as if she had trampolines surrounding him. Interestingly, despite her being the Ultimate Gymnast he's come close to hitting her quite a few times, but Akane seems to be focused on wearing him down, which makes sense seeing as how she doesn't pack too big of a punch. But the thing that confuses me is this man in a red trench coat. With a seemingly infinite amount of weapons in said coat, he's been fighting wave after wave of the Monokuma headed goons, who I will now call Monomen. Logically it makes more sense for him to fight with the others so as to take out the Ultimates related to fighting first, and then move on to Fuyuhiko and his Monomen afterwards. Perhaps his objective is to focus on these Monomen so that they can focus completely on the Ultimates afterwards?

 _vrrrrrrrrr_

What the hell? Behind the sounds of swords clashing and metal cutting flesh and fists hitting people, a strange noise can just barely be heard. And it's getting louder. In fact, it's literally behind-

 _vrrrrrrrrrrrrRRRRRR **RRRRRRR**_ _ **OOOM**_

Suddenly, a motorcycle drives straight into Fuyuhiko. The Ultimate Yakuza had seen this coming however, and had just moved out of the way. Sitting on said motorcycle was a blonde man with a dark blue suit. He looked around quickly and stopped upon seeing me. On making eye contact, he nodded as if he just confirmed something, and simply said, "Get on."

I see, this was a rescue operation. They started this straight-up fight to distract them, and to bring me to the open where they could easily sneak me away. With people who can stand up to the Ultimate Despair, and a well-coordinated plan, this means they can only be one thing: The Future Foundation. I hop onto the back, holding onto him. He smirks, and drives straight... Into the fight. Worried, I reach one hand back and fumble through my bag for my gun. Finding it I hold it in my right hand and zip up my bag with the other. In the next moment, I cock the gun and stretch my hands over his shoulders and around his head, effectively making him see perfectly down the ironsights - not the best thing to see while driving.

"Drive straight!" I yell as I fire the first shot. I aimed for Peko but as expected of the Ultimate Swordswoman she deflected it with her blade, a normally impossible act. The white-haired man seems to understand the purpose, and swings at her. She reacts in time to back off, but he manages to cut her arm slightly. However, Nekomaru is running to us. I start to point at him but his opponent is already restraining him. Off to the other side Akane jumps towards us, but as her leg flies towards us for a flying kick the motorcycle tilts towards her, forcing her to overshoot and land just past us. I keep my gun as we drive past the other people who were standing near the back. As the vehicle stops I jump off and the old man speaks up.

"Mission accomplished everyone! Regroup!" He shouts, and the fighters quickly run back. As they approach us, I notice the Ultimate Despair are just standing there. Perhaps they accept defeat? Or maybe they have another...

"RUN!" I yell, turning and running past the motorcycle to escape the bridge.

"Where the hell are you going?!" Yells a voice.

"Sakakura, just run!" Yells another, and I hear everyone's footsteps behind me. Eventually we reach the end of the bridge, where the blonde was waiting for us on his motorcycle.

"So, what was that for?" Asks the tall, muscular man with dark greenish hair. As if on cue, the bridge starts to explode from the center, and a chain of explosives go off, destroying every last part of the bridge.

"That, is why I said to run." I reply. "So, the only thing I can guess is that you guys are Future Foundation guys. Why'd you do this?" I ask.

"We'll discuss this later." Says the tall white-haired man. "For now, get us back to HQ Kizakura."

"Yeah, yeah." The blonde replies, speaking into a radio. As he talks the rest of us wait, and I start to feel a bit tense. I'm surrounded by the Future Foundation guys. I wonder if all of these guys are Ultimates too. The blonde, Kizakura, speaks up. "The helis will be here in a few minutes. Why don't we all introduce ourselves real quick to him?"

"Alright, why not?" Says the old man. "I'm Kazuo Tengan, and..."

After a few minutes passed and everyone introduced themselves, it was my turn. Where to start... "First things first, are you an Ultimate or not?"

"Yeah, I'm like the rest of you guys." I say. Damn it's annoying but the facts are the facts. "I don't remember my name, but I'm the Ultimate-"

"Wait, you forgot your name?" Asks the man now known as Munakata. I nod and he narrows his eyes at me. "I see. Then what's your talent?"

"I'm the Ultimate Strategist, from what used to be one of the 77th classes. Yes, I knew the Ultimate Despair before they became who they are now." I say. The others think for a moment and before anyone could speak the helicopter could be heard nearby. The radio goes off in Kizakura's hand and a voice says they're landing, probably the pilot. The helicopters land and I get in one with Tengan, Chisa and Munakata. After a short while they take off and start flying, apparently to the Future Foundation's Headquarters.

"You should get some rest." Says a woman's voice. I look up to see Yukizome's warm smile.

"How long will the ride take?"

"About thirty minutes. Just rest yourself for now, you've had to deal with quite a bit today according to Kizakura." Munakata responds, and Chisa puffs her cheeks out and says something to him about sincerity and not needing to be so commanding all the time. Smiling, I close my eyes. I might as well rest for now, they'll probably interrogate me in the next 45 minutes. Eventually their voices fade out with the engine and rotor, and I fall asleep.

* * *

 **AN Stuff:**

 **So what do you think? Did you like the protagonist being rescued by the FF or would you have been happier seeing him die? Maybe you wanted him to be an Ultimate Despair or something? Well too late now! Anyways, as always feedback is appreciated, and if this goes well I'll post the next chapter a lot sooner than this one, so yeah. Thanks for reading!**

 _ **A picture is worth a thousand words  
But a thousand words can paint a picture**_


	3. The Future Foundation

He's forgotten so much. Now he fights to find who he is. Fighting to find his memories, the part of him he's missing. Finding out... leads to an unknown outcome. Interesting... I'll pay attention to you, Strategist.

* * *

"...up... wake up..." I hear a beautiful voice speaking to me from the distance. An angel perhaps? "WAAAAAKE UP!"

"GAH!" I exclaim, my eyes flying open and head shooting up at the sudden yelling. "WHO'S THERE?!" I yell, reaching for my bag.

"Relax, um... Strategist, I'm just waking you up to tell you we've landed." The voice calmly responds, and I look to the side to find Yukizome leaning... uncomfortably close to me. Pretty good cleavage... "C'mon, the rest are inside." She says cheerfully, backing away and standing next to Munakata, who's glaring at me. He probably caught onto me.

"Strategist, don't make us wait. I'll set up the meeting, you follow Yukizome. She'll bring you to Gekkogahara for a psychiatric evaluation. After that, you'll wait for us to call you. Once again, Yukizome will bring you up to us, and we'll start talking about you." He says, and all of this is starting to stress me out a bit. How do these official guys keep this daily schedule up? Then again, I probably used to work for the military, what with my talent being strategy. "Chisa, I'll see you later."

"Yup! Bye Kyosuke!" She said happily, waving as he walked away towards... holy crap that's a big building. Befitting of the title 'Future Foundation HQ'. "Well I guess I'll be your tour guide, so let's get to know each other better first!" She says, looking at me. Shoulda worded that better miss... Dumbass, get your mind out of the gutter!

"Yeah, I guess that's fine." I reply, fighting the urges that come with testosterone and stress.

"Okay, so you know I'm Chisa Yukizome, the Ultimate Housekeeper. Hmm..." She trails. She clearly did not think of anything to say.

"Didn't you use to teach the Ultimate Despairs?" I ask. To this, she freezes. Probably a really touchy subject for her. Oops.

"Yeah," She starts. Her voice isn't as cheery, like she's recalling a sad memory. Well that's probably exactly what it is. "Kizakura used to be their teacher and I the assistant, but he became a full time scout and I took over." She says, and as she pauses she looks off into the distance towards the city, probably where Hope's Peak used to be. "They were a good class, always full of life and energy. But... I lost them." She says, finishing.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have brought that up." I say, slightly ashamed. "But you didn't lose them, they lost themselves. That's it, we need to capture them. We need to bring them back." I say, smiling at her. Confused, Yukizome looks back at me.

"Why? To kill them? Torture them? To punish them for falling to despair?" She asks.

"No. To help them. They fell to despair, most likely thanks to Enoshima. But like a cave, if there's a way in, there must also be a way out." Yeah, throw some smartass analogy in like you're a 50 year old man talking to a kid, that oughta help. She stays silent, probably thinking about what I said, but she returns to her happy-go-lucky self as if she has a switch she just flicked back on.

"So, putting that aside for now, we should get to Gekkogahara." She says, her voice starting to return to its usual happy tone. But now I know. It's not real, it's her trying to cope, trying to trick herself into being happy to avoid despair. "Follow me!"

* * *

"Who is this, Kizakura?" I ask as the door to my office closes.

"He's the Ultimate Strategist, the man I told you about." He replies, smiling.

"Not that, we know he is. But as an amnesiac, he knows his talent, but not his name, something that he should know even better. He even remembers his class. This doesn't make sense, Kizakura." I say, sitting down. As he sits beside me, he thinks for a moment.

"His amnesia may be extremely unusual, but he is a very valuable asset to the Foundation. We just have to help him figure out what he's missing and go from there." True, but this could pose a problem.

"What if his memories cause him despair? How would we stop the Ultimate Strategist?" I voice my worry. The Ultimate Despair with even more smarts would make them even harder to fight.

"Relax, Kyosuke." He says, making eye contact. "We'll have to just make contingency plans that he won't have time to think about."

"I see. Good thinking, Kizakura. Alright, we'll work on that later. For now, he should be undergoing evaluation." We stand up, and Kizakura leaves the room after tipping his hat. Now to call Chisa...

* * *

"So, who is this Gekkogahara?" I ask as we walk into an elevator. This is a pretty fancy building, really spacious and well-constructed, and I think they probably have numerous emergency exits and such.

"Oh, she's the Ultimate Therapist, Miaya Gekkogahara. She's really shy, so she'll only talk to you through her computer with this little pink rabbit she calls Usami. Prepare for that." She replies, finishing as the lift stops and we step off.

"Sounds interesting." I say. Real cool response there, Strategist. You'd think with a talent around your brain you'd be able to think of better responses.

"We're here," She says, suddenly stopping and gesturing to a glass door with the words 'Miaya Gekkogahara' printed on. As she opens the door I hear a phone ring from her coat. "Ah, Kyosuke's calling. You go in and say Kyosuke sent you, I'll answer this, okay?"

"Gotcha." I reply as I walk into the room. It's a large well-lit room with many chairs through the middle of the room facing the far wall with a large TV on it, but at least now it's switched off. Near the left of the wall is a solid door, probably where the therapist works. There's a counter against the right wall, and behind it sits a young woman typing on a computer. I walk up to her and speak. "Yeah, uh, I'm here for some evaluation? Munakata sent me."

As if I spoke a curse, she froze and looked at me, and suddenly she was clicking away and typing something, and she opened her mouth to say in a hoarse voice, "She'll be here shortly."

Looks like Munakata's the big boss here, the kinda guy you don't mess with even on a good day. I walk over and sit on one of the chairs, looking at the wall. A few minutes pass and the door opens to reveal... a very unusual woman. She has blue hair and eyes, and a red scarf covering her neck and mouth completely. She's sitting in a modified wheelchair, with a monitor attached showing the pink rabbit 'Usami' that Yukizome mentioned earlier. I wonder if she uses the wheelchair specifically for the modifications. "Ultimate Strategist, please come in!" Says Usami in a sickeningly sweet voice. I walk over as she turns back to enter the room. This'll be interesting.

* * *

Why isn't she answering? She's probably introducing him to Gekkogahara. Three rings. Four. Five.

"Kyosuke?" Her beautiful voice calls me through the phone.

"Chisa. What are you two doing?" They should have reached Gekkogahara's office by now.

"I just sent him to Gekkogahara. I left him to answer you and talk privately. What's wrong?"

"Chisa, he doesn't have many memories. The only thing we know he remembers is anything during the Tragedy, but he doesn't remember his name. Has he clued you on any memories he retained?"

She hums in thought before replying. "Yeah, he remembers me as the Ultimate Despairs' former teacher."

"So, he remembers his talent, and remembers being in one of the 77th classes. He also remembers you as 77-B's former teacher." She hums in approval, and I'm sure she's nodding right now too. "I guess it'll be better to wait for Gekkogahara's report. When he finishes, just show him around until I call you, okay?"

"Sure thing, Kyosuke! I'll see you later!"

"Yeah. Bye."

 _Beep._

* * *

"I'm sorry please calm down!" The little bunny shouts as I punch the wall.

"Talent... isn't everything." I say, taking a shaky deep breath. "There are... more important things... than stupid talents."

We were talking, well I talked and she typed, and she brought up my talent. After I said how stupid talent was, she asked "Isn't talent the most important thing?" I snapped and stood up, the chair I was sitting on flying backwards as I lost my temper. Now I'm here, ashamed of myself.

"Dammit." I say between breaths, picking up the chair and setting it upright again. I sit back down and face her, and her scared face makes me feel like a complete asshole. "I'm... sorry. I shouldn't have reacted the way I did."

Shockingly, she pushes the monitor down, forming a flat surface letting me see her full face and most of her upper body. She lowers her scarf, revealing a frown. "I'm... sorry, too... I've been out of practice lately... I should've been more careful with my words..."

Good job smartass, you saddened a goddamn therapist. "Hey, don't apologize. You may be the Ultimate Therapist, but everyone makes mistakes. I probably made some fatal ones in my past."

"Uhm... yeah..." She pulls the monitor and scarf back up, hiding behind Usami again, and starts typing. "So, what do you remember from before the Tragedy? Anything is fine." The little pink rabbit says.

"Hmm... the only thing I remember is walking through the corridors of what I assume to be Hope's Peak. As I enter a classroom, a class full of very strange people looks at me, and I see a teacher with an apron. I realize I walked into the wrong class, and apologize and leave, quickly closing the door. I look up and see '77-B', indicating class 77-B, Chisa Yukizome and the Ultimate Despair's old class. My memory ends there. Besides that, the only memory I have is reading a letter in a living room explaining how I've been selected to attend Hope's Peak as the Ultimate Strategist. I can't remember my name on the letter though, as if it's been deleted or something." I explain, and wait. Come to think of it that's extremely suspicious, not remembering anything besides those specific moments.

"Okay, well thank you very much! I have all the information I need. I'll see you next time!" She says through Usami.

"Yeah, I'll see you around since I guess I'll be here for awhile." I reply, standing up, slowly this time, and turning to leave the pretty small room. "Bye." As I leave the room I see Yukizome sitting there waiting for me. I walk over to her and she stands up with her usual energy. "So, now what?"

"Now, I'll show you around until Kyosuke calls me! Let's go!" She says, her lab coat flowing behind her as she turns quickly to leave. She's so energetic, I refuse to accept that it's real. I start walking to follow her and we walk out of the area, turning right. "I'll bring you back to the first floor, and we'll start from there."

* * *

"What do you mean we've lost them?! I personally established that base!" I shout. This war is getting out of hand. I take a deep breath before speaking again. "Alright. You and your men stay in that area. Hide yourselves, do not do anything. Find a simple structure and hide your men in it. Await orders from me directly, do not reply to anyone besides me."

"Affirmative." He replies, and the call ends. Looks like the Despairs found them.

 _Knock knock._

"Come in." I say, and the door opens as Gekkogahara rolls in, a guard holding the door for her and closing it once she's inside. Once the door clicks, I speak. "So, what's your report?"

The sound of typing sounds through the quiet room as Usami starts to speak. "He has a very stable mental state all things considered. He only has two memories. The first is an incident where on his way to class he entered the wrong room, finding himself in class 77-B and seeing Yukizome and the Ultimate Despairs before they became as such. The second memory explains how he knows his talent as it is of the letter he received upon being scouted for Hope's Peak. Interestingly, he says he can't see his name on the letter even though it should be there with his talent. My final note is that he reacted with extreme anger when I said, 'Isn't talent the most important thing?'. He seems to hate the idea of talent being idolized, but I don't know why."

"I see. Thank you for your report, Gekkogahara. I'm setting up a meeting with everyone, including him, to discuss what he'll do. Please be ready by 5:45pm, one hour from now." I say, and she acknowledges before going to the door and reaching over to open it, leaving the room as a guard closes it behind her. Now to sort out the last of my work for today.

* * *

 **50 minutes later**

"And finally, welcome to the top floor." Yukizome says as the elevator doors open. We walk down a corridor and after a few turns she gestures to a hallway, completely empty except for a large set of double doors at the end guarded by security on each side. "This is the meeting room, and this door right here," She says, pointing at a lone door right before the hallway. "Is Tengan's office. We use the meeting room for any important... well, meetings, between several divisions or leaders, and very rarely all the division heads gather here to discuss things like big problems, plans, progress and so on."

We continue walking around the level, mostly talking about things in general, seeing as most rooms were just offices or nothing big. After we finish covering the level, we walk back to the lift and she speaks up. "And that's done. Welcome to the Future Foundation. I wanna talk with you, so can we head to the roof?"

"The lift goes straight there? Interesting. Sure, why not?" I reply as we enter the empty machine. She presses the top-most button and we arrive in just five seconds. We exit and walk near the edge where a safety railing about 3-quarters our height was placed. "Damn all those tall guys." I comment, and Yukizome chuckles. We stop right behind it, and she looks into the distance before opening her mouth.

"Why did you fight?" She asked. "Why did you fight to survive?"

"I fought... to find out. To find my memories, and to see what I can do." I reply.

"See what you can do?" She echoes.

"I am an Ultimate. I have a talent. The Future Foundation, you guys, are recruiting both talented and normal people to help you make a future. Rid this world of despair, and bring hope to a seemingly hopeless scenario." I look at her, and our eyes lock. "I am the Ultimate Strategist. I can create plans so good that Hope's Peak believed in me enough to track me down. I may not know what I've done before, but I swear that I'll die before I give up on that hope."

"Hope like yours is what makes the Future Foundation." She says, smiling. We continue looking at each other in silence, and suddenly her phone rings. She takes it out of her coat pocket and answers it. "Hello? Ah, Kyosuke! Mmhm... understood!"

"What's up?"

"We're going to have one of those rare meetings, and you're part of it! C'mon, let's go!" She says excitedly as she jogs to the lift. I wait awhile and run after her, reaching the lift with her. She presses a button labeled 'TOP' and once again the doors open five seconds after closing. We step off and walk to the meeting room and Yukizome opens the door. As she enters I follow, and I'm introduced to an interesting group of people. "Ultimate Strategist, meet the Future Foundation's Division Heads!"

As the Housekeeper's announcement swept the room, she made a beeline for Munakata, leaving me standing in the doorway with many pairs of eyes staring at me. I awkwardly stand frozen, and clear my throat. Now's not the time for hesitation. Scan the room, and speak. My eyes do as such, and I see everyone who rescued me, along with a couple of people I hadn't seen before. Deep breath, and go. "Good evening! I am the Ultimate Strategist, recently rescued by the Future Foundation. I have lost a vast majority of my memories, including my name. I hope I can be of use to you!" I finish, bowing. I feel someone's hand on my shoulder, and straighten to see Kizakura.

"I know we look formal and you're probably nervous around everyone, but we're not that serious around here, alright? Loosen up a bit." He says, pulling his hand back and sitting back down. I sit down across him near the edge of the table, and as I settle down Tengan clears his throat to get everyone's attention.

"Well, since he's already met most of you, can the few who haven't quickly introduce yourselves?" He asked, looking at the two people I hadn't met before. The first to speak was a pale grey-haired woman wearing a mask.

"My name is Seiko Kimura, the Ultimate Pharmacist. I'm the leader of the 4th Division." Is all she said. Well her voice sure is soft. Pretty hard to see her as a leader of a division like the rest of them. Pharmacist probably means she's in charge of something dealing with drugs and medicines, maybe potential cures for despair, if that's possible. The final person was a very frail looking boy with light brown hair and very clear bags under his eyes.

"I'm Ryota Mitarai, the Ultimate Animator. I'm the 10th Division leader. Pleased to meet you." He said. Well if I thought Seiko wasn't the ideal leader, this guy just blew away my initial thought process. Guess the Tragedy can affect people in pretty big ways.

"Alright. Well, now that we all know each other, the first thing that must be discussed is what his position will be." Starts Munakata. Wait... position? Oh I'm not gonna like this official crap. "As the Ultimate Strategist the only thing that is known is he can create effective plans quickly."

"He has too many options, so let's see first what he does best, military or civilian planning?" Suggests someone. Before I can react another voice raises.

"Obviously military, how else could he have survived out there on his own? He should be under me or Munakata." States a voice. Once again another voice speaks before I can react.

"But if he can create such effective plans surely he can help us with survivors and restoring civilization!" Shouts another. The cycle repeats, different people trying to prove each other wrong. Well, this is certainly painting the Future Foundation in a very different light compared to what I thought they were like. This continues for another few minutes, some people clearly having conversations on other topics, before finally I see Munakata open his mouth across the table.

"SILENCE! We cannot discuss if everyone is shouting against each other. This is a meeting, not a playground argument." He said, powerful voice full of authority. As he ordered, the room fell into complete silence, and he stated the purpose of the meeting. "We are here to discuss who will be in charge of the Ultimate Strategist. I would also like to remind you that he is here, so your questions can be directed at him."

For a while, no one speaks, but eventually someone asks the question that started the shouting war. "Are your abilities limited to military plans, or can you also form plans on things relating to civilians?" Finally I can talk.

"I have no memories, so I only have experience developing my own strategies to escape and survive the Ultimate Despair. However," I reach behind me and pull out my notebook, placing it on the table. "I have written down most of what I've done in this notebook in fear of losing my memories again, or as a warning for others if I die. One of these entries has details about how I managed to find the location of the Future Foundation's Headquarters, the very building we're in now." I say. At this, for some reason Munakata flinches.

"What did you say?" He asked, his voice slightly angry. Better clear things up I guess.

"One of numerous things I wrote about is the plan that helped me discover the location of this building, which was my intended destination until I was rescued and personally brought here."

"How did you find out? This location is undisclosed to anyone except Future Foundation members." Munakata says. Well I don't know either, better read out what I wrote.

"I will now read what I've written.

 _I've been walking around for awhile, and I found a camp. Whoever these guys are, they're armed to the teeth and are not friendly. I tried to approach but I was met with immediate hostility. I'm going to take them out. My objective is to find out why they're here, as they clearly aren't swallowed up by despair yet. This is extremely risky, but I have a plan. I'm going to locate any of the Ultimate Despairs and use a page of this notebook to inform them of this camp's location. Hopefully the nearest one won't be too far away. I'll finish this if I succeed._

The next page continues the story.

 _Alright, I found Saionji, the Ultimate Traditional Dancer. What luck. I threw a balled up piece of paper at her head that read 'Future Foundation soldiers' and a small simple map of their location. As I write this I can hear their screams of despair as a very loud electric guitar plays down the street. I guess she lured them in and used Mioda to torture their ears. Anyways, a quick search has turned up with a map, some spare guns and ammo and basic necessities. This map is of some general area, but a part of the ocean is circled for some reason. Ah, I found the identity of this group. Their equipment is labeled 'Future Foundation Recons Squad'. I guess I just handed these guys over to the Ultimate Despairs._

Wait, huh?!" I yell. No, that can't be. I just threw these guys to the wolves they were fighting against?! A chair is heard rolling away as Sakakura stomps over to me.

"You killed an entire squad of soldiers and left like it was nothing! What the hell were you thinking?!" He yells, reaching for me. In panic I push off the table and the chair rolls back, but it moves too fast and falls backwards. I roll backwards after falling, standing to see Sakakura already throwing a punch. Instinctively I raise my arms to block it but the impact never comes. Confused, I lower my arms to see Gozu's giant hand stopping Sakakura's.

"Calm down, Sakakura. As much as he sent that squad to their death, he only did so without knowing who they were, and after being attacked upon interaction with them. Admittedly that's partially my fault, I had instructed them to fire on sight of anyone approaching them." Said Munakata, who had walked up to Sakakura and placed his hand on the boxer's arm, lowering it. Sakakura suddenly snapped back, and for a moment he looked happy, then sad, then looked at me.

"Sorry." He said, walking back to his place. After everyone settled back down, Tengan spoke up.

"Well, it seems your talent has yet to be tested on other situations due to your memory loss and given situation in the Tragedy. Very well, I propose this: He will not be a member of any division, but much rather he will be working solely on any plans he is called for. He will be multi-purposed, helping to produce and improve upon any strategies and plans." This got everyone thinking, and surprisingly finally the room came to an agreement. However, Mitarai had an important question to ask.

"Um... In that case, will he be given an office and left to work separately from anyone?" Well, that sounds pretty damn boring and honestly slightly depressing.

"No." Said Munakata. Yes! I don't need to die of boredom and loneliness! "He has to be monitored just in case his memories come back. I've thought about this already. He needs his memories, and in the event his memories cause him despair he must be recovered immediately as he is an important ally to us. I have thus concluded that the most fitting partner to watch over him will be... Miaya Gekkogahara."

For a few moments the room was silent... then typing was heard.

"Ha-wa-wa! Munakata, why me?" Usami asked, waving her bunny arms up and down. She was on the other side of the table, and I could barely see any of her so I had to just listen.

"He has a potential to regain his memories at some point. If this happens and they cause him despair, he must be returned to us. Even if his memories don't cause despair, he will need help coping, and he'll need help adjusting to working with the Future Foundation as quickly as possible. Who better to help him maintain a stable mental state than the Ultimate Therapist?" With that, Munakata looked at the woman, probably straight in the eyes. The room is silent as he waits for her response, and I hear a small sigh before a few moments of typing.

"Okay, Munakata. I will accept the responsibility of helping the Ultimate Strategist." Usami said, and around the room most people nodded in agreement. Munakata then said the parting words.

"Then it's settled. We're done here. Gekkogahara, Strategist, Sakakura, wait here. We'll talk once everyone has left. The rest of you, return to your jobs."

As everyone else filed out, a certain blonde whose breath stank of alcohol whispered some choice words for me. "Hopefully you can get her out of her shell, the rabbit gets weird after a long time." I smiled back at him, nodding. This is getting interesting.

* * *

 **AN Stuff**

 **So how was this chapter? I don't have much to say so thank you for reading and as per normal if you have feedback please don't hesitate to let me know. Criticism is appreciated but hate will not be tolerated.**

 **PS: I may or may not be basing my idea of 'Ultimate Therapist' on my very kind psychologist who's helping me irl so yeah...**

 _ **A picture is worth a thousand words  
But a thousand words can paint a picture**_


	4. Foundation Partners

As the giant man calling himself Great Gozu left, the door clicked as it shut behind him, and the four of us were left alone in the room. I stood up and walked over to a chair closer to the three, sitting opposite Gekkogahara and Sakakura and next to Munakata.

"So, why'd you keep us here?" Asked Sakakura. Of course he'd start the ball rolling.

"A simple explanation." Replied Munakata, who then turned to face me. Now I could actually see everyone properly. "Strategist, the people in this room are most likely going to be seeing you the most often. Gekkogahara as she is your new partner, and Sakakura and I because we'll need your assistance most often."

"So I'm assuming you two are leaders of Divisions related to military or police, right?" I ask.

"Correct. I've held you back to remind you of how important your position will be from now on. You will be listened to as an expert in the field of strategy and tactics and planning. But I want to make it perfectly clear that because of this, many lives are in your hands. A mistake you make could mean the difference between the Future Foundation expanding its land, or the loss of dozens of our units. Are you prepared to accept this great responsibility?"

Munakata and I have been maintaining eye contact this whole time, and he's only done this to see if I'll crack under pressure. Most likely at least. But I won't let them down. "I do, Munakata. I accept full responsibility for anything I do right or wrong. But I promise you I will not let the Future Foundation fall."

"Very well." He says, smiling. "You are now officially a member of the Future Foundation. You will be with Gekkogahara at all times as you are to be observed by her."

I nod, and Sakakura speaks up. "So, is that all? Anything I can do?"

Munakata looks up in thought for a moment. "No, Sakakura. For now continue on your current missions. This meeting is over."

As he finishes speaking he and Sakakura stand and walk to the door. Sakakura holds the door open for him, and the two leave the room. A few minutes of silence pass as Gekkogahara and I sit alone in the now silent meeting room. Eventually she starts to type.

"So, umm... shall we go?" Usami asks, and I nod as I stand up. She starts to reverse in her chair, and turns the chair to leave the room. I reach the door and open it for her. "Thank you!" Usami says as she rolls through. I walk next to her as we go towards the elevators.

"So... where do you guys stay? Do you live somewhere in this building or do you guys have a separate living quarters?" I ask as we enter. "Oh, which floor?"

"Ten." Usami replies and I press the button. As the door closes she explains. "Depends on the person. Most of us live in this building, where we have a door leading to the person's room in their office. Those who don't are the people who do most of their work on the outside."

As we arrive I realize something. "Umm... Gekkogahara?" I ask as she rolls out and I walk out next to her. "Where do I sleep and work?"

At this she stops. Her scarf covers much of her face but I think that she's come to this horrible realization just now. Wait... oh God does this mean... "I guess... we'll use the same office?" Usami says, with doubts that she is definitely entitled to have.

"Oh... Alright, I promise not to get in your way." I say, flashing a smile at her. Gotta remove the awkardness somehow.

"Alright, but don't be too worried about it okay? We'll figure something out when we get there." She replies. "Follow me." She says as she starts to go down a hallway. If I remember correctly this is her office's area. As I walk behind her, I realize just how bad this situation is. Not only have I just become a fully-fledged member of the Future Foundation mere hours after being rescued from the Ultimate Despair, I'm going to be sharing the same room and office as my partner, Miaya Gekkogahara, who was terrified after I got mad at her for a small comment when I met her for the first time earlier! Speaking of that comment...

"Hey, Gekkogahara? Yeah, umm... sorry for losing my temper when I did. I shouldn't have just flipped out like that with someone I just met." I say. Gekkogahara stops for awhile and types something.

"It's okay, you already apologized Strategist. We're partners now, so we should learn more about each other as we go along!" Usami said, and I raised an eyebrow and looked down at the woman, who looked up at me for a single second before turning as red as her scarf at the realization of what she said. "I didn't mean it like that! Let's just keep going okay!" She said, quickly turning down a corridor. Well that apology turned into comedy real fast. Better than having a bunch of sad thoughts and constant apologies though. I turn down the same corridor and see her in front of a room, leaning over to do something. As I walk closer I see she's trying to unlock the door.

"Let me help." I say as I take the keys from her and open the door for her. I enter the large room for the second time today and follow her to the office door, where she sits waiting for me. Oh, right, I took the keys. "Which one is it?" I ask as I stop next to her and she points to the smallest key. I unlock and open this door for her, and we enter her office, or I guess our office now. She stops in front of yet another door. "Are you kidding me? Alright which one?" I ask, looking down at the keys. Suddenly a small hand appears palm up in front of my hands. I look up and see her standing in front of me, her scarf lowered as she's standing. Oh, she wants the keys.

I hand them to her and she nods before turning to unlock the door. Her wheelchair has been left next to the door, the monitor pushed to the side. As she enters the room I follow her to find... a surprisingly large bedroom. It's walls and ceiling are all painted cyan and the floor has a soft maroon carpet that feels really nice on the feet. Directly opposite the door a large queen sized bed is placed against the wall, with a brown nightstand on the left side of the bed. On the right wall there's one last door, presumably leading to the bathroom. To the right of that door is a large closet, and to its left is a small desk with a computer.

"This is amazing..." I say, taking a deep breath. But now for the awkward question. "So, do you have an extra mattress in here or..." I hope I'm not sleeping on the floor. As I wait for a response I put my bag down next to the closet. A few minutes pass and still nothing. "Gekkogahara?" I ask, and it hits me. She's unbelievably shy, so she's probably awkwardly sitting on her bed trying to think of how to say it. "There isn't one is there?" I ask, looking at her. She nods, and looks away from me. "Okay, is there anywhere I can get one?"

She nods before going to her computer and turning it on as she sits down in front of it. I sit on the edge of her bed and look around. Not much in here, but I guess it's made for her. Whatever she does is probably on that computer considering how bland the rest of the room is in terms of entertainment. Oh, is that? Yep, dunno how I missed this the first time around. A television is hooked up to the wall beside the entrance. A small remote sits on the nightstand. Might as well entertain myself, and as I think this I press the red 'power' button, and the television powers on. The screen is split in two, the left side is watching as Makoto, Aoi and Celeste run down a staircase, and on the right side Byakuya, Toko and Sakura are running down a corridor, their collective footsteps emanating from the screen.

I hear Gekkogahara stifle a scream as she jumps towards me. I turn to her as she lands on the bed, and she grabs the remote and turns off the screen.

"Uh... Why'd you panic?" I ask. She gets off the bed and goes back to the computer, and after a few moments of clicking and typing Usami's voice starts speaking again.

"Every broadcast signal has been hijacked by that live video. No one in the Future Foundation watches the show in case it brainwashes any of us into despair."

"Well, that makes sense I guess. But you might be wrong." I reply, and she looks at me. "I watched for a couple hours to pass the time. It was right before-"

"YOU WATCHED IT FOR THAT LONG?!" Usami exclaimed, and Gekkogahara typed furiously. "How are you still sane?! Everyone else who did became addicted to despair!"

"Really?" That doesn't make sense, I'm perfectly the same. "Maybe it's when murders happen? Maybe only those types of scenes cause it?"

The therapist looks up for a few seconds in thought, and begins to type as she smiles. "Yes, that must be it seeing as how you're perfectly fine." Says Usami as a ringing sound is heard throughout the room. "That's the mattress, please get it."

Huh, a doorbell. I nod and walk to the door, and upon opening it I see... Nothing. "Gekkogahara? There's no one here."

"It's outside, the office is closed so they're all the way at the first door." Replied Usami. Great. As I trudge over to the main door I can't help but wonder who decided on this system. I guess it conserves space but still. I open the door to find two uniformed men standing next to a mattress, one hand holding it up on each side. Upon seeing me they saluted.

"Sir! This is the mattress Ms. Gekkogahara requested. Would you like us to bring it in?" The one on the right asked. These guys are more formal than the actual leaders of this organization.

"It's fine, just leave it there, I'll bring it in." I reply, but all of a sudden I have an urge to say something else. "YOU'RE DISMISSED! MOVE!" I shout as they straighten and salute again, before marching away. What the hell was that? Whatever, better get this in. I pull the small mattress into the room and close the door behind it. A small beep sounds, and it clicks. An automatic lock, probably only activated when this place shuts down for the day. I hoist the mattress onto my head, balancing it with my hands as I walk carefully to the main office. I push down the door handle and... it doesn't open. I try again and it stays shut. It's also auto locked. I look around and see a small button next to the door. I press it, and I hear a faint ringing sound. Ah, another doorbell. The door clicks and opens revealing Gekkogahara standing. I walk past her and she closes the door behind me. I enter the room and place it on the floor below the television. "And done! Well, that's my sleeping place settled!"

As I sit on the mattress I realize just how hard it is. I stand back up and sit on the edge of Gekkogahara's bed, and I hear her type something before the pink rabbit speaks again. "Would you like to bathe first?"

"Uh, yeah I guess. Wait, I don't have soap and shampoo." I say, and so I continue, "Can I use yours for now?"

Gekkogahara turns away from me and I hear Usami reply, "Yes, feel free to. Soap is the green bar and shampoo is the orange liquid in the transparent container."

"Thanks Gekkogahara." I say as I walk into the shower, but upon a quick scan of the simple bathroom I realize another problem. "Uhh, have you got a spare towel for me?"

A short while passes and I walk back outside to see her pulling a towel out of the closet. She passes it to me and I smile, going back in and closing the door. This is pretty basic compared to the rest of the room. On entry is a mirror and sink and some small cabinets, a couple of steps ahead is a toilet and area to hang clothes or towels, and at the end of the room is the actual shower, where the soap and shampoo sit atop a small plastic shelf next to the shower knob. As I take off my shirt I inhale, and upon breathing in I realize just how horrid I smell. Jesus I smell like a dog coated in sulfur. I look into the mirror and see just how messed up I've become. My hair's all over the place and the longest it's ever been, one lock of hair reaches down to my eyelids. I've started to grow a stubble, and my eyes now have bags under them, and I'm covered in cuts and bruises. Damn, this has been tough on me. I step into the shower and close the curtain, and upon turning the knob I realize just how amazing it is to have hot water again. Come to think of it, I don't actually know how it feels to have a shower. Actually I don't know how anything 'normal' feels, I don't remember experiencing anything. Well, might as well enjoy this while I'm here.

* * *

"Hello?"

"Miaya Gekkogahara."

"Who is this?"

"You are in possession of the Ultimate Strategist."

"Hello?!"

"He has severe amnesia. Help him remember."

"How do you know this? Who are you?"

 _click_

"Hello? Hello?!"

* * *

And done. Now I just need the daily security report and I can rest for the day. Hmm? An email from Gekkogahara?

 _To: Kyosuke Munakata  
From: Miaya Gekkogahara  
Subject: Mysterious Call_

 _Munakata. You said to report if any potential breaches occurred. One just happened. Someone managed to contact me directly, and they know of the Ultimate Strategist. The voice was male. The only thing of importance he said was, "Help him remember." I could not trace the call fast enough to find the source. This means someone managed to hack me directly without a single alert going off. I don't know how this could be possible for anyone except for maybe the Ultimate Programmer, but that should not be possible. What should I do?_

That shouldn't be possible. To hack the head of information security herself directly is unthinkable. Yet he succeeded. Could it be?

 _To: Miaya Gekkogahara  
From: Kyosuke Munakata  
Subject: Mysterious Call_

 _Inform the Strategist. He must be made aware so he can help solve the issue. Hopefully he can help. See if you can find where the hacker could have broken in from. Until then, be extremely cautious. The hacker might do worse things next time._

Sent. This isn't good, I can only think of a small handful of people who could be responsible for this, but only one makes any sense: Izuru Kamukura.

* * *

I walk out of the shower and start to wipe myself with the towel. That felt great! Now I not only feel like a new man, I also smell like it! After removing the last bit of water on my legs I realize something: I don't have clothes. I guess I can reuse the pair I've been wearing... I could wash them but I'd need something to wear until they dry. I'll just wear the towel for now and ask Gekkogahara if she can order some pyjamas or something. Just dry my hair a bit... Damn long hair's annoying, water just keeps coming! How do people live with this kind of hair? Whatever, I'll just go now. I unlock and open the door and step out into the room, the towel wrapped around my lower body.

"Hey, Gekkogahara? Are there pyjamas or something to sleep in you can ask for?" I ask, looking over to her. She's busy typing but as she finishes typing she looks over to me... and freezes. A few seconds pass and I start to get kinda nervous. "Gekkogahara?"

She starts to blush and faces the computer again and begins to type extremely quickly, and she seems to be mistyping often with how much she's hitting backspace. I guess she's not used to coed dorms or anything? "Strategist! Yes, I can ask for one! Please stay in the toilet until then, seeing another person naked is... uncomfortable."

Naked? Calm down I'm wearing a towel! But I get it, so I just nod and walk back in, closing the door behind me. I guess now I just wait until they're delivered. I should've gotten something of interest to do...

 **15 minutes later**

I see, so her shampoo consists of water, Sodium Laureth Sulfate and-

 _Knock knock!_

Oh! Finally it's here! I stand up from the toilet and put her shampoo back on the shelf, and walk over to and open the door after wrapping the towel back around myself. In front of me is Gekkogahara, who's holding a set of dark green pyjamas. She looks away and stretches out her arms, handing them to me. I can't help but chuckle as I take them and close the door. Man, I didn't think an adult could be as shy as her but I guess I was wrong. As I put the shirt on I realize there's no underwear. Whatever God may be out there, I beg of you to spare me from poorly-timed blood flow. As I put on the pants, I hang the towel up next to Gekkogahara's and walk out again. I walk over to the edge of my mattress and stretch, some bones cracking from my excessive use of them.

"Strategist? There's a problem." Usami says. I turn around to see Gekkogahara typing away. I walk over to her and stand next to her.

"What's up?"

"Someone has been watching you, and they know about your current position under me. They managed to directly contact me, meaning they could get through my best security."

Someone's been watching this whole time? They had to hack and Gekkogahara doesn't know them, so clearly this is not Future Foundation, but are they an enemy, or maybe just a neutral guy? Either way he's gotta be skilled to get through Gekkogahara's personal security and the rest of the Future Foundation's. "What do you want me to do about it? I don't have computer skills."

"Munakata just instructed me to tell you. He hopes you can help solve this."

"Okay, I don't have specific skills, but clearly this guy knows... what happens... inside the Future Foundation..."

Oh no. My notebook. I run to my backpack and rummage through it and find my notebook. I pick it up and flip to the page with the list of Mutual Killing Game participants, and there it is.

" _Objective is to cleanse the Future Foundation before they gain too much power._ " I say, reading out the note to myself. I hear typing and the rabbit starts talking.

"What? What happened?" She asks.

"There is or are traitors in the Future Foundation. I found that out and wrote it down, but my memory was erased, probably by Ultimate Despair. I wrote it as a reminder but I didn't understand it till now! I need to find the traitor or traitors!" I say, standing and dropping my notebook.

"How do you know that? It can't be, no one knows of your status besides the Future Foundation's leaders, and we've all been working hard to eliminate despair for a long time!" Usami said, and looking at Gekkogahara I see she's shaking slightly. "THEY CAN'T BE TRAITORS!"

As Usami shouts, Gekkogahara stops typing and looks down, and after a few seconds she locks eyes with me.

"I don't want to believe that anyone there is lying to us... But the fact is that this is a possibility. As a tactician I have to do my job, and that means viewing the issues I face from every angle. If something can beat my plan I have to find out how they did it and make sure to not forget that mistake. I know this is painful, it's impossible for you to just accept this, but I firmly believe there's at least one traitor among those leaders. I hope there's only one." I say, and I walk over to her and she stands up, holding up an outstretched arm to stop me. She looks down and spends some time in silence, before she uses one hand to type something and press enter.

"I'll trust you. But if there is a traitor, then that means I can't trust anyone." Usami says. I guess she understands that she can't tell anyone about this. "But how will we narrow down the list? There are 11 leaders besides me: Tengan, Munakata, Kizakura, Kimura, Yukizome, Sakakura, Ando, Izayoi, Mitarai, Bandai and Gozu. How can we possibly find out who's a traitor and who isn't?"

Valid question, how can we distinguish who is and isn't? The Ultimate Despair and anyone who has fallen to Despair is obsessed with the idea, taking any opportunity they can to spread it, even if it's covertly. Whoever they are, they're skilled enough to hide their true identity from the other leaders, assuming they aren't all in on it. Can't interrogate everyone, it's very dangerous especially with people like Gozu and Sakakura. Wait, why not get them to admit it themselves?

"I got it. Befriend them." I say, and the shorter woman looks up at me in confusion. "Being good friends with them will allow us to talk to them individually, and we can dissect what they say to find out who is speaking a little too negatively, subtle or not." Again, she types with one hand.

"You think you can befriend Munakata and Sakakura? Some are easy, like Yukizome or Bandai but there are those that will shrug you off completely."

"Look on the positive side: the more we can talk to the more people we can judge." I reply, smiling. She shrugs and I see I've convinced her. She quickly types one last message.

"I'll shower and go to bed. You should rest too, tomorrow's your first day of work." Usami says, and I nod and walk to my mattress, and I realize that it is literally just a mattress. Looking at Gekkogahara's bed I see two pillows and a bolster on the blanket.

"Uhh Gekkogahara?" I say, and she looks at me from the bathroom. "Can I use one of your pillows?"

She pauses and nods, leaning out to point to the one on my right. I grab it and place it on my mattress, and upon sitting on it I remember just how hard it is. I reach to my bag and pull it closer, and as I open the notebook to write a new entry I hear Gekkogahara let out a muffled shriek. She's in trouble! I run up to the door and turn the knob but it's locked. "Gekogahara! Are you okay?!" I yell as I analyze the door's every detail. But, the door clicks and opens and all I see is a side of Gekkogahara's face as she stretches out her bare right arm, and she's holding onto... my clothes. ALL of my clothes. You know, underwear and all that included. Crap. "Sorry!" I say as I take my clothes and immediately turn to my bed in shame. I forgot about these. As I walk back the door shuts and locks. I put them into my bag and sit back down, pulling a pen out from it and flipping to a new page to start writing.

 _I was captured by the Ultimate Despairs Fuyuhiko, Nekomaru and Peko. Shortly after capture they brought me to a bridge where they tried to make an example of some Future Foundation leaders, but it turned out to be a rescue mission for me. They brought me to their HQ and after a long series of events I'm now their official strategist, paired up with Ultimate Therapist and 7th Division Head Miaya Gekkogahara. I've settled down with her and this is my first night. Someone managed to hack her and we deduced that there's a high likelihood of a traitor existing amongst the Future Foundation Heads. Tomorrow is my first day here working. Good night._

* * *

 **AN Stuff  
**

 **So that's this chapter done. I wanted to show you guys how I envision Gekkogahara, and also set up the next few chapters. If you found this boring, then I apologize for the lack of action, but for good things to happen they must first have the appropriate setup. Anywho I don't think I did as good with this as I could have, and you probably got tired of reading the name Gekkogahara' at some point so sorry. I won't make up excuses but I'll just say that I've been in a bit of a blue period recently but I wanted to put this out before going overseas so yeah, here you go. As always, feedback is greatly appreciated, and I'll see you next time.**

 _ **A picture is worth a thousand words  
But a thousand words can paint a picture**_


	5. First Day On The Job

"Ah, so if I perform on these dates I'll earn more fans?" Asks a girl, excited.

"Theoretically, assuming my predictions are correct. However even if I'm wrong, you should still get a decent amount of success." I reply.

"Thank you so much! I'll be sure to make it up to you someday!" She says.

"Don't worry about it. If this helps you get closer to your dream, then your success is all I ask for. Good luck, Maizono."

* * *

"The hell?!" I exclaim as I sit up. I look around to find a dark room. I'm sitting on a hard mattress, and I see the outline of a larger bed to my left. At the edge of the mattress my bag rests against a wall. I'm wearing pyjamas. I grab my bag and look through it, finding everything where it always is, but now a set of clothes well-suited for outdoor use is piled on top. I take out my notebook and a flashlight, and flip to the last page with writing, pointing the light at it.

 _I was captured by the Ultimate Despairs Fuyuhiko, Nekomaru and Peko. Shortly after capture they brought me to a bridge where they tried to make an example of some Future Foundation leaders, but it turned out to be a rescue mission for me. They brought me to their HQ and after a long series of events I'm now their official strategist, paired up with Ultimate Therapist and 7th Division Head Miaya Gekkogahara. I've settled down with her and this is my first night. Someone managed to hack her and we deduced that there's a high likelihood of a traitor existing amongst the Future Foundation Heads. Tomorrow is my first day here working. Good night._

I see, I'm in the Future Foundation's HQ, presumably sharing a room with Gekkogahara seeing as how there's another bed next to me and I'm on the floor. I'll ask her about what I've forgotten. However what concerns me is that dream... Who was that girl? That... 'Maizono'. How did I dream about someone I don't know? Perhaps I knew them and forgot, but my subconscious didn't? As the Ultimate Therapist I suppose I should ask her about this later. What time is it? I stand up and point the flashlight around the room slowly, avoiding the bed so as not to disturb the woman I assume is sleeping there. Nothing. I suppose if there's a nightstand there should be a clock of some form on it. I carefully shift the beam of light towards the side of the bed, and I start to see a silhouette. That must be her. She's laying on her side, hugging a bolster and sleeping soundly. No snoring. There's nothing on the right side of the bed. I point the light at the floor until it reaches the other side, and I raise it to find a nightstand. Now to quietly reach it.

I lower the flashlight and tiptoe to it slowly, and as I near it I shine the light on it again. There's a small device on it. I turn off the flashlight as I reach it, and lift up the device. Feeling around the edges I find a small button. This must be the power button. I press it and the device lights up, showing a photo of a woman's face with blue hair and eyes, and the name 'Miaya Gekkogahara' under it. There's a keyboard at the bottom of the screen, and a line above it. A password. On top of the photo is the time, at the top left is the strength of internet connection and at the top right is the battery percentage. It's 3am. I turn off the device and carefully set it down, before tiptoeing back to my mattress and lying back down. Better rest a bit more, apparently I'm going to be working today.

* * *

"Oh, hi. I'm Makoto Naegi, the Super High School Level Luckster." Says a boy.

"Hey, I'm the Ultimate Strategist, your senior. Luck, huh? You've got a senior with that title. He's pretty weird though, but if you can handle it feel free to tell me and I'll tell him to find you." I say.

"Thanks but I think I'll pass. Ultimate Strategist, huh? You must've had a pretty interesting life." He says, looking to the side. He's probably thinking, _They worked hard, not like me. I got here through sheer luck._

"Not really, just lots of thinking. Here's some advice: Don't look up to your friends too much. It's undeniable that they've all been through a lot to get here, but don't underestimate yourself. I told your senior this too. We were all born with our talents. That means no one here is better than the others." I say.

"Thanks. I'd better go to class now then. See you later!" He says as he turns to walk away.

"Bye." I say, turning to my own class.

* * *

"Stra..." What the hell is that? I slowly open my eyes.

"Strate..." There it is again. I blink a few times.

"Strategist?" The strange voice calls. I rub my eyes and sit up. "Oh, good. You're awake."

I look to the source of the voice, a young woman in front of a computer. Miaya Gekkogahara, Future Foundation 7th Division Head, Ultimate Therapist, my partner. I'll inform her of my memory loss and... interesting dreams later. First to greet her. "Good morning, Gekkogahara. Sleep well?"

The sound of typing echoes from her corner and the voice replies. "Yes, thank you for asking Strategist. How about you?"

"I slept well I guess. I guess I should ask this now, but are you talking through your computer?" I ask, standing up.

Typing again. "Yes. I've spoken to you like this since yesterday." The computer says.

"Well uh yeah, I forgot everything. I read my notebook and apparently the Future Foundation rescued me and now I'm paired up with you. Can you fill me in?" I ask, and she turns to face me, confused. After a few moments she nods, and turns back to type. A few seconds pass and the computer begins to talk.

"Okay then. You met me and the rest of the Future Foundation Division Heads yesterday after they rescued you. After some discussion we concluded that you'd be best off in my hands, so they paired us up. After some time we set up the mattress you slept in and agreed to share this room and office. While you showered, I got a mysterious call and after you finished we discussed it and came to the conclusion that at least one Future Foundation leader is an Ultimate Despair in disguise. You decided that the best way to find out is to befriend them all and we'd dissect the conversations to find out who is and isn't one. I think that's all."

Alright, that makes sense. Now I need to find out about my job. "Okay, so seeing as I'm the Ultimate Strategist and my notebook said I'd be working, can you tell me about my job?"

She types again, and the computer speaks. "Certainly. You have been given the responsibility to help with planning and improving any that are brought to you. You'll most likely be working with the 2nd and 6th Divisions the most, as they are centered around military and policing. You accepted this responsibility yesterday."

Makes sense. "Alright then, but how is this gonna work? Do I just sit around here until someone asks for me?"

A few moments of typing. "Yes. I'll be informed if you're needed somewhere. Until then just keep yourself busy with something in here. Please try not to leave or make too much noise as I work in the office right outside. If you'd like to bathe, I've gotten soap and shampoo for you, but I'm not sure of your preference so I just got the first ones I found in the men's section." As the sentence ended, she looked down and I could see her face tinged with a shade of red.

"Okay, thank you. One last question, why do you speak through the computer?" I ask, reaching into my bag for my clothes.

"Oh, I suppose you forgot. I'm very shy, so I don't talk, instead preferring to use a program I made called Usami, who acts as a voice and avatar for me. Sorry, this must be very weird for you."

"No, it's fine. I'll shower now. Oh, what time is it? Shouldn't you get ready for work?" I ask as I walk to an open door leading to a bathroom.

"I've already bathed. It's almost 8am. Work starts at 9am. I'll be outside from now on. Please make yourself at home. Oh also, don't turn on the TV. Do you remember the Mutual Killing Game?"

Mutual Killing Game? Hmm... Ah! "A game set up by someone in the old Hope's Peak school building where the 78th class are forced to kill each other, right?"

"Yup! Well that's always playing and I don't want to risk you getting brainwashed, so please don't use the TV. I'll go now then." Usami says as Gekkogahara stands up and sees me in front of the bathroom with my clothes in my hands. Her face falls as she quickly leans back over the keyboard to type something. "Please don't reuse your old clothes! I have some clothes that I estimated should fit you. They're in the closet with mine, separated by a divider."

"Thanks." I reply as I open the closet's left door and find... a few sets of solid black outfits and... various bras and panties. I quickly shut the door and turn to look at her, hoping she didn't see that, which she thankfully didn't. However, she's very obviously blushing as she finishes typing something.

"I didn't manage to get you any underwear because I didn't know your... um... size." Usami says, and Gekkogahara stands up straight, shuffling her feet awkwardly and taking a few deep breaths, before typing again. "Sorry! I'm going to work now! Please come out as soon as you finish so you can get some undergarments." Usami says as Gekkogahara walks rather quickly past me, leaving the room. Well this was eventful. Anyways this side should have my clothes. I open the right door and find a few sets of shirts and shorts of varying types, and I settle on a simple dark blue cotton t-shirt and matching dark blue cotton shorts.

I throw my old clothes onto my bed and take off the pyjamas that I just realized are dark green. I throw those onto the bed with my old clothes and close the door as I enter the bathroom. I place my dark blue clothes on a rack next to a couple of towels. One of these must be Gekkogahara's and the other is mine, which I probably used yesterday, but which one? Ah! She just showered this morning whereas I probably showered last night, meaning the dryer one should be mine! I hold the one on the left in my hands and find it quite wet. If the other one is dry then this is hers. I try the other one and... it's completely dry, so this is definitely mine. I take it off the rack and fold it and place it on my clothes to identify it, and enter the shower. Closing the curtain I see a small shelf with four bottles in total. Two of these must be Gekkogahara's soap and shampoo and the other two are mine. Head and Shoulders, Sunsilk, Dove and Lifebuoy are their names. I guess Sunsilk and Dove belong to her, since their names sound more feminine. I hope I'm right, and I turn the knob and water begins to pour. Wow that feels nice. Damn, I'm gonna be enjoying this. No, I gotta hurry, she's waiting and she doesn't have all day. I grab the shampoo and turn off the water, and start to clean my hair.

* * *

 _Ring, ring. Ring- click._

"Who is this?"

"It's Gekkogahara."

"Ah, what is it?"

"The strategist forgot yesterday's events this morning. When I woke him up, he only knew what his notebook told him. He also retains memory of major things, such as the state of the world and the Mutual Killing Game, but he forgot everything else such as the meeting, the names of the other Division Heads who he met and so on."

"I see... Maybe his memory resets daily?"

"It's a possibility, but I told you so you can help inform the others if he's needed. Could you help with that?"

"Sure thing, Gekkogahara. Bye."

 _Click._

Sakakura would be the first person to call about this. Eventually I'll have to call everyone though. One thing at a time, Munakata...

* * *

Alright, that was refreshing! I stretch in my new clothes and look in the mirror. Damned long hair, it's such a hassle to dry. My mouth feels weird, I suppose I should brush my teeth. Actually, have I eaten? Not breakfast, and with how hungry I am I'm guessing I didn't get dinner either. I walk out of the bathroom and fold my old clothes and pyjamas, and place them at the foot of my mattress. I pick up my bag and quickly check inside, finding everything still there. I close it up and put it on, walking to the exit. Wait, her office is probably there. Ah, a peephole. I look through and see her sitting alone in a large modified wheelchair, with a large monitor covering most of her small frame. I knock on the door twice to let her know I'm coming in, and walk into the office. Immediately I hear typing.

"Hello Strategist! Did you enjoy your shower?" Usami asks.

"Yeah. Firstly, was your soap and shampoo the Dove and Sunsilk? Oh, and which towel was yours?" Come on, tell me I was right...

"Oh! Yes, that was mine. For the towel, I believe I hung it on the left of the rack." She replies. Yes! I knew it!

"Phew, I chose the right one. So, where can I get my clothes and stuff?"

"There's a few storage rooms with various objects. Clothes, bathing supplies, some canned food and boxes of sweets and so on. The nearest one is on this floor. When you leave this office, turn right and follow that hallway to the end, where it splits to left and right. Turn right and follow that hallway till the end and it's the door on your left, labeled 'storage'."

"Okay, thanks. Oh, how does food work here? Is there a cafeteria or something?" I'm starving...

"Yes, but ordering food is also an option for the Division Heads. I prefer to order, but some of them go to the cafeteria when they're not too busy or to take a break. Would you like to order something or will you eat there?" Usami asks. I think I'll hold off on the unnecessary socialization.

"I'd rather have something ordered, please. Whatever's fine, just some food and a drink and I'm good. Is that okay, Gekkogahara?" She nods, and I start to walk out. "Thanks. I'll come back soon. See ya."

I exit the room to find myself in a larger waiting area with a receptionist at the corner behind a large table. I walk to the exit and she looks up at me in shock. From that reaction she probably didn't know I was staying here. Wait, if she doesn't know, and I just came out of Gekkogahara's office in the morning before work hours, where her bedroom is... Oh she better not start any rumors. I stop walking and look her in the eyes, glaring at her as intimidatingly as I can. She seems to catch my meaning and gulps, nodding. I look away and leave the room, following Gekkogahara's instructions and turning right. The end is in a few meters, so I walk down it and turn, bumping into someone and staggering back. I focus my attention forward to find a strange woman on the floor in front of me. She has strange gray hair and a mask covers her mouth. She's also wearing purple gloves, and she's almost completely covered in clothing. Is everyone here like this?

"Sorry about that, I should've payed more attention." I say, reaching out a hand. "I'm the Ultimate Strategist."

She stops for a moment and looks at me in confusion, before grabbing my hand and pulling herself up. She's really light. "Umm... Hi? You already introduced yourself yesterday..." She says.

"I have? Ah, that must mean you're a Future Foundation leader. Sorry, but I've forgotten about the events that transpired yesterday. Would you mind re-introducing yourself?" I ask.

"Um sure... My name is Seiko Kimura, the Utimate Pharmacist and 4th Division Head." She says, as she starts to walk past me. "Sorry for bumping into you like that..."

"No, don't apologize. You didn't expect anyone to come around that corner so you have nothing to apologize for. I could've been more careful and known you were there but I didn't, so I'm sorry." I reply, and she stops next to me. She turns to face me and I look into her eyes.

"Um... Thank you." She says quietly.

"Don't thank me. You're a good person. You should be more confident. The world could use more people like you." I reply, smiling. She nods and walks away, and I continue down the hallway. I reach the end and, as Gekkogahara said, the door on my left is labeled 'Storage'. I knock twice and enter, finding myself in a fairly large room with several tall shelves full of boxes filled with various items. Nothing is labeled, so I begin to look through the shelves.

After some time looking around I find a box with men's underwear, but they're all too small. I look into the box next to it and find a slightly larger size, so my size should be next to this. Yup, there they are. I grab a few pieces, and after some looking I find toothbrushes and toothpaste. As I walk to the exit I find a box of neatly folded suits. Each set consists of a jacket and trousers of varying matching colors, and as expected the box next to it has differently colored dress shirts and ties, and the box next to that has various shoes. After making sure they fit, I settle on a dark red jacket, tie and trousers and a white dress shirt, and a set of dark red leather shoes. I think this looks pretty good. I fold them up and cover my underwear with them, my new shoes underneath the pile. I carry everything with both hands, and leave the room. Some walking later I arrive at Gekkogahara's waiting room, where I shoot the receptionist another glare and continue walking to her office. I hold my clothes in my palm as I knock on the door and enter, finding Gekkogahara with a spoon raised halfway to her lips.

"I'm back." I say as the door closes. Gekkogahara puts down her spoon and wipes her hands with a piece of tissue before typing.

"What's that?" Usami asks.

"I saw some formal attire and got a set just in case I need it." I reply. "Oh, I met Kimura on the way. Well I actually quite literally bumped into her."

"Seiko Kimura? You might have ruined your chances at befriending her with that! What did you say?" Usami asks. I guess she's worried.

"I apologized and helped her up, but she apologized too. I told her she didn't have to and told her to be more confident, seeing as her voice was really quiet." I reply, opening the bedroom door. "Is my food in here?"

"Yes, I placed it next to my computer. Please don't spill anything, I got you omelette and toast with some hot chocolate since I didn't know if you liked coffee." Usami replies, and I nod and enter the room. I place the clothes in my half of the closet and put the toothbrush and toothpaste next to the sink, before sitting at her desk where the plate of food and the mug of chocolate were waiting. I grab the utensils and begin to eat, making sure not to drop or spill anything. Damn, this tastes great! The only food I remember eating are canned food that I just open and eat.

 **15 minutes later**

I let out a small burp as I finish the last of my chocolate. Well that was a good meal. Guess I'm gonna be waiting awhile for my first task. How should I entertain myself? I guess I'll dispose of these first... where's the trash can? There's one next to the nightstand but it only contains tissues, so I don't want to dirty it. If she's free I'll ask her. I grab the plate, cup and utensils and walk up to the door, looking through the peephole. There she sits, typing and clicking away in silence. I knock twice and open the door, steeping into her office.

"Hey, what do I do with these?" I ask, gesturing to the trash.

"Ah, leave them here with me. The morning trash collectors will be here soon." Usami replies, and I set down the objects on top of her empty plate.

"Thanks. Let me know if you need anything, or if someone asks for me." I say as I turn back to the room and close the door behind me. I sit down at the edge of her much softer bed and find myself lying down in happiness. This is a really nice bed, no wonder she could sleep so soundly. As I enjoy laying there a doorbell interrupts my enjoyment. I stand up and go to the door, opening it. "Good morning."

"Good morning, Strategist." Replies the man standing in front of me. I have to look up to him, and his large and intimidating stature makes him look like a hell of a fighter. Well with those muscles he probably is. "Come with me."

"Sure, but do you have a dress code, or is this good enough?" I ask, grabbing my bag. He looks me over and looks down in thought, before sighing.

"You have anything formal? The others will take you more seriously with a suit or something." He says, looking back up at me.

"I got a suit just now. Wait with Gekkogahara, I'll change real quick." I say, and he nods as I close the door. I quickly remove my clothes and fold them, palcing them back in the closet. I put on some underwear, wear the dress shirt and button it up, put on the dark red trousers and dark red jacket, which I leave unbuttoned, and put on my new shoes. Lastly, I grab my bag and open the door. "I'm done."

The man looks me over and nods, then turns to face Gekkogahara. "Thanks, I'll give him back when I'm done." He says, and he starts to leave, gesturing for me to follow. I walk after him, smiling at Gekkogahara as I leave, who I swear was blushing again. Guess I look good in a suit. I follow the man as he walks out of the waiting room, and I jog to catch up to him. Damn these absurdly large and tall people. As he turns left, he speaks. "Munakata told me you forgot, so I'll introduce myself again real quick. I'm the 6th Division Head, Juzo Sakakura, the Ultimate Boxer."

"Thanks. I take it this Munakata is the boss around here. Gekkogahara must've told him then." I say as we enter a lift and he presses the button labeled '2'. "So, what do you need me for?"

He folds his arms and takes a breath before speaking. "Yesterday we rescued you after straight up fighting a few Ultimate Despairs. That night, Gekkogahara got a mysterious phone call. This morning, I received reports that all Ultimate Despair activity completely stopped. A few brave guys went out on their own to try and confront them, but not one of them came out. It's too weird, so Munakata and I decided we'd get you and discuss what to do."

As he finished, we arrived and the doors opened. We walk out and I follow him down a few hallways in complete silence. Eventually, we reach a door labeled 'Meeting'. He opens the door and we enter to find... a large room with damaged walls and splinters all over the floor. A few people are standing around and some are seated behind individual desks, but at the back of the room I see a man with white hair sitting still at a table.

"Munakata, we're here." Sakakura says, walking over to and standing behind him, leaning on the wall.

"Welcome, Strategist, to your first meeting."

* * *

 **AN Stuff**

 **So here ya go, another chapter in the Future Foundation HQ. For those who expected more action or are waiting for it, don't worry it'll come eventually. Anyways, thanks for reading and as always feedback is greatly appreciated.**

 _ **A picture is worth a thousand words  
But a thousand words can paint a picture**_


	6. Interrupted

"Meeting?" I repeat, taking in the strange sights.

"Yes. Today, we will discuss our next course of action. In this room are some people involved in this discussion, and those stationed at the corners are for security." Munakata says, gesturing to some people in the room. "Those not involved, leave."

Most of the people file out of the room, leaving the room with me, Sakakura, Munakata, four large security guards and some other men and women in suits. I sit on one of the empty chairs and ask, "Where do we start?"

"Firstly, we'll discuss what the Ultimate Despairs are possibly doing." Munakata says, tapping a few buttons on a tablet on the table in front of him, and a huge screen behind him comes to life, displaying what looks like a map, with some parts circled. "The circled areas are where Ultimate Despair members were last seen. Sakakura and I have found from our morning reports that they have not been seen or heard from since last night."

One of the men raises a hand. "Sir, what if they're dead?"

"Impossible." Munakata immediately says. "They couldn't be killed just like that, and I don't think that everyone in the Future Foundation would be enough to take them down. So firstly, wha-"

"Help!" Yells a voice from the door. Everyone's eyes turn to the source, and in the doorway stands a panting, panic-stricken man. "There's... been a... security breach!" He says between breaths.

"What?!" Munakata says, standing up. "This could be their attack. I'm placing the building under high alert! Everyone, report to your appropriate stations!" He yells, and after tapping a few buttons an alarm begins to sound as the room turns red.

"Strategist! Go get Gekkogahara! Munakata and I'll meet you at the lobby." Sakakura shouts over the blaring alarm, and I nod and run out of the open door.

I reach the elevators and one is sitting unoccupied. I quickly press the 10th floor, and the door shuts. In a few seconds it opens and I run down a hallway. The second right turn... there! I turn and halfway down the hall is the door labeled 'Miaya Gekkogahara'. I rush towards it and open the door, calling her name. No response. I dash across the room and into her office, but the room is empty. Her highly modified wheelchair is sitting there, her scarf laid out perfectly symmetrical over it. I go to the room door and open it. "Gekkogahara!"

As I rush in, I see the room... completely empty. Wait... looking closer, the bed has a small lump under the blanket. No time to waste, I run over and yank the covers off to reveal the young woman curled up, her eyes shut tightly. She opens them slowly and her blue eyes meet mine.

"Gekkogahara, now's not the time. We have to go, Sakakura will meet us at the lobby. We're under attack." I say quickly, and she shakily gets up. "C'mon, we'll take care of whoever this may be." I say, trying to reassure her. It seems to work and she nods, and I lean against the door as she rushes to put on her shoes. Afterwards, she heads to her work desk and grabs a small bag from a large drawer.

"Laptop with secret official stuff?" I ask, smiling. She nods, and runs past me out of the room. I follow her and she looks back, and after confirming I'm behind her she heads for the elevators. I reach them a second after she does, and she pants to catch her breath. "Haven't run in awhile?"

She nods, and the elevator arrives and we enter, but rather than pressing any buttons she takes out a small key and inserts it into a keyhole. The doors close and the lift jolts before practically shooting down. Holding tightly to the railings, I feel my breakfast is fly up my throat. The lift slows and after coming to a stop the doors open to reveal the lobby. After some taking a few seconds to readjust myself, we jog out and see a group of armed men talking to Munakata and Sakakura. We walk down the stairs and Munakata glances at us before looking back to them.

"You know your orders. Go and the moment you see someone of interest, use your radios." He says and the small squad nod, salute and jog out of the room. "Strategist, Gekkogahara, no one knows yet who or what is attacking us. No sight of anything suspicious."

"Hmm..." Think smartass, this is your rare chance to use your talents. "What if they destroyed their own mode of transport, like a suicide bomber?"

Munakata's eyes widen at the idea. "It would be possible. Detonating a large enough bomb with the perpetrator stuck next to it would bring someone the despair they so desire. Gekkogahara, can you access the building's surveillance cameras from here?"

I look down at her and she nods, sitting down and unzipping her bag, powering her laptop. I look back to Munakata as she begins to type and click. "Have you ever been attacked before?"

He shakes his head and sighs. "No. It shouldn't be possible, since only those in this building know where it is. However, if you found it, others could've too."

I open my mouth to speak but Sakakura beats me to it. "Munakata, what should we do?"

I glance at him, and he wears an expression of determination. Munakata looks down for a moment in thought, before walking over to a table and picking something up. "Take this and walk around the surrounding rocks. If you see anyone suspicious, immediately press the red button. Do not engage."

Sakakura walks up to him and grabs the small contraption, nods and jogs out of the lobby. Suddenly Usami speaks up. "I'm in the system, but I haven't found anyone suspicious yet. Most of the other leaders are in their offices, protected by a small squad of armed guards. Yukizome is in a lift with her guards, coming down here."

Munakata quickly turns to the Therapist, but looks back to the lifts slowly, frowning and murmuring something. He looks at me and says, "Strategist, stay with Gekkogahara. I'll be right back."

I nod and he runs up the stairs. I walk over to Gekkogahara and sit on the floor next to her. "Are you okay?"

She looks at me, confused, and Usami replies. "What? I'm fine, Strategist."

"No, you weren't. You were clearly panicked when the alarms went off. Now may not be the time to disturb you, but if you can tell me what's wrong I'd appreciate it." I say, looking at her blue eyes glued to the screen. Her expressionless face turns to a frown and she sighs as she stops working, and locks eyes with me. A few seconds pass and she turns to the screen, typing.

"I'm afraid. The alarm never goes off, and as a leader of the Future Foundation I should expect this kind of thing, but... it's scary. When it started blaring, I was worried that it was over. I was worried that someone had found us and would kill everyone. I'm scared of that... not the death, but the despair. People would be killing each other and at the end of it the Future Foundation would be gone, and there would be no more hope... I'm scared of that more than anything else." Usami says, and Gekkogahara's eyes tear up slightly as she attempts to control her emotions. I hold one of her hands, and she turns to look at me.

"Miaya Gekkogahara, I swear to you that this senseless death will end. The Future Foundation will not fall, and I won't let anyone kill or be killed. This Tragedy will end, and we, together with the others, will show the world that there is hope for everyone, even when it feels as if there is none." I say, looking into her blue, scared eyes. They widen slightly, and she pulls her hand back, wiping away the small tears, and a weak smile forms on her lips as she begins to type.

"Thank you, Strategist. Let's get back to work then, shall we?" Usami says, and I smile back at her as she switches to the surveillance cameras, cycling through various rooms and hallways. "Do you have any idea what to look for or where?"

An idea comes to mind. "Does this place have any secret places? Like an underground entrance or some secret rooms?"

"No, at least none I know of. Only Munakata and Tengan would know for sure though, since they built this place." Usami replies, the computer continuing to cycle through various hallways.

"Strategist." A man says, and I turn to see Munakata walking down the stairs with a woman wearing a white coat with long orange hair tied into a ponytail. "Do you have any ideas?"

"Not yet. But are there any secret places in this building?" I reply.

"Yes, however I cannot disclose this information unless absolutely necessary. Besides, only Tengan and I know their locations." He says, looking at me as if to say, 'don't pry any further'.

"Alright, well I'll just hope that the enemy didn't find them then. However this doesn't make much sense to me. An enemy attacks, but no one shows up and no one is even fighting." I say, thinking. Is it possible that... "Wait, what if the attack is false?!"

Munakata, the woman and some guards are now next to me. His eyes narrow at me. "What do you mean?"

"What if this was faked to distract us from something? Like maybe to throw us into chaos while they set something up in the shadows." I say.

"Then why? And does this mean that the person who informed me was a traitor?" He asks, and his eyes widen as it dawns on him. "Of course, the alarms would've automatically gone off if someone either flipped an emergency switch or if the building sustains any damage."

"So that guy was telling you directly because he knew where you were, and knew that you'd immediately trust those in the building, so he tricked you into activating the alarms!" I say, describing the person's actions. "But we don't know who he wa-"

"Sakakura!" Munakata shouts, cutting me off. "I sent him to the outskirts of the base on his own. He could be in trouble!"

Munakata begins to run through the lobby, and the woman chases after him. I look down at Gekkogahara. "I'll be back." I say, and I turn to the guards, raising my voice. "Hey! I'm ordering you to protect her!"

One of them, probably the leader, nods and they stand near her, and I look at her one last time before running after the two. After exiting the lobby I see them round a corner on my left and I chase after them, only to bump into someone. Who the hell? Ah, the Ultimate Pharmacist, again. "What are you doing, Kimura?"

She turns to me, shocked by my sudden appearance, and replies. "I was following Munakata and Yukizome. They were running somewhere so I wanted to make sure I could help if they got into trouble."

"Funny, I was doing the same thing. C'mon, let's go." I say and she nods, joining me in running after them. Eventually they stop after climbing to the top of a small hill of rocks, and we catch up to them. "Guys, what's up?"

Munakata turns to us, and the woman, apparently Yukizome, continues to look over the edge, expressionless. Her face looks darker, and her eyes are almost impossible to see. "That."

We look at each other and nod, joining them on the edge. Looking down the 10-meter drop, we see... someone, standing in the center of a small circle of bodies, all lying motionless on the ground, and among them is one wearing a white muscle shirt, with a distinctly muscular and fmiliar build... "Sakakura?"

What the hell? He's the Ultimate Boxer. He matched Akane Owari's speed, and most likely had the strength to KO someone in one punch. So how was he laying there, on the ground beneath us, incapacitated. Wait... Incapacitated. Seiko Kimura. Ultimate Pharmacist. Munakata. Swordsman matching Peko. One enemy.

"I have a plan." I say, looking to the two.

* * *

 **AN Stuff**

 **So yeah this is shorter than usual, but I wanted to have some more time to work on the next part of the story. Anyways, I hope to see you next time and as always, feedback is greatly appreciated.**

 _ **A picture is worth a thousand words  
But a thousand words can paint a picture**_


	7. Meeting Despair

Juzo Sakakura, Ultimate Boxer. He is capable of delivering fast, extremely strong punches that can incapacitate most people. He is physically one of the strongest members of the Future Foundation. Yet here I am, looking down upon his unconscious body laying flat on the ground. How hopelessly boring…

* * *

The figure starts to walk away from the bodies slowly. I look over to Munakata and he nods, unsheathing his blade. I turn to Kimura, who's crouching behind this rock with me, who nods, clutching a small tube in her hand. I raise my hand just enough for both of them to see, and use my fingers as a countdown.

3…

2…

1…

I close it into a fist and Munakata jumps over his rock with impossibly high speed, running straight towards the figure. Kimura and I are running away from them towards the bodies, my vision constantly changing as I survey every part of the surrounding area. Nothing; no one hiding, no traps, absolutely nothing. From the largest rock to the smallest crack, there isn't a single trick. That guy took out these men alone. We've reached Sakakura's body, and Kimura has uncapped the tube and is pouring the substance into his mouth. How's Munakata?

"How hopeless." Says a voice. I look to where it came from and see the figure calmly walking towards us, as if he has absolutely nothing to worry about. If he's here, then that means…

"Munakata?" I say to him. He nods.

"He was to distract me while you two revived Sakakura to provide backup, and together they'd take me down. That was your plan, wasn't it?" The figure asks, still walking across the large clearing towards us. I spare a glance behind me and see Sakakura regaining consciousness, his eyes opening and his hand against his head trying to recuperate. The voice returns. "It was decently planned, but you didn't expect me to be capable of disposing of him that quickly. You should consider contingency plans."

He's still walking, getting closer and closer. "Kimura, can Sakakura fight?"

"Yes, Strategist, but I don't think he's in any condition to." She replies.

"Do you have any enhancers or whatever?" I ask. She doesn't respond. "Kimura, do you have anything to get his strength back now?"

"Yes." She replies. "But if he gets badly hit again he might not make it."

"Do it, Kimura." Says the boxer, and I turn to him. "I'm not letting this bastard get away with taking out Kyosuke."

"He's merely unconscious. I will kill you if you get in my way again." The voice says, and I turn to find him less than 10 meters away. I look at Sakakura again, but he isn't fazed in the slightest. In fact he looks _pissed_. I nod to Kimura, and she hands him a small bottle of pills.

"Take some. If you need more strength take the rest. I'm not giving you enough to overdose so you'll be fine even if you swallow them all." She says, standing back. Sakakura nods and pours half into his mouth, chewing them. I jog over to the pharmacist as he starts groaning.

"Are there any negative effects?" I ask as Sakakura seems to grow even larger than he is.

"Besides a headache after it wears off, he should be fine." She replies as the boxer glares at the figure.

"So you're going to fight. I knew you were stubborn but I hoped you'd be smarter than this." The voice says, and Sakakura charges to the person. "Hopeless."

As Sakakura rushes the person, he raises his fist to punch the figure and… misses.

"What?!" I shout. "How the hell?!"

The figure had vanished from their previous position, and was now directly next to Sakakura, who could barely even turn his head to look at the person. The figure reaches out their hand and seemingly touches the boxer's neck, who falls to the ground clutching his throat. The seemingly invincible boxer had been knocked down in less than a second.

"Sakakura!" Yells the pharmacist next to me, but he doesn't respond as he coughs, attempting to hold himself up. "That's it, I'm getting him."

She starts reaching into her jacket. I grab her wrist tightly and look her in the eyes. "I never said I didn't have a backup plan." I whisper.

She stands still, and I release her wrist as she relaxes slightly. "What do you want me to do?"

"Nothing." I reply, and I walk towards the figure. "Very interesting, mysterious person."

As I say it loudly, he slightly turns his head to me. For a moment I see one of his eyes, glowing red and... _terrifying._ I freeze for a second before walking backwards, standing next to Kimura again. "He's unbelievably strong, fast and intelligent. He must have a talent, and is definitely an Ultimate Despair." I whisper to her.

"So, how do we deal with him?" She asks, and in her eyes I see a hint of fear.

"Return to base. Tell Gekkogahara that I got held up doing something with Munakata and Sakakura. Wait with her." I say, smiling slightly.

"A-and you?" She asks, knowing what I mean. "You're the Ultimate Strategist, you have a plan to get out of here with the others, right?"

I shake my head, and let myself smile. "I will do my absolute best to get Munakata and Sakakura to safety, but it has a high likelihood of causing me my life."

Kimura sighs, but nods and starts running towards the main building. The voice asks, "What did you send her to do? Call reinforcements?"

I turn to face the person, whose piercing red eyes are both looking straight into mine. I pick up my courage and speak with confidence. "Nope. It's just you, me, and some knocked out fighters."

He doesn't respond for a moment, standing perfectly still. "Are you going to risk your life to save them?"

"Yup." I reply nonchalantly. Gotta be calm. "As the Ultimate Strategist, I have to prove the power of my tactics here."

He chuckles and takes slow steps towards me. "You wish to save them after seeing my capabilities? What hope do you have of succeeding?"

I can feel myself sweating. This is the single most terrifying moment of my memory, but that doesn't mean I'll give up. "I will get them to safety."

He laughs more at my confidence. "You truly believe that? You have nothing on you except for a single gun, and you have insufficient strength to beat me in physical confrontation. You have no hope, just save us the time and run away."

"I will never run from a problem. I will protect the Future Foundation, and they will lead the world to a brighter future." I shout back, clenching my fists. He stops walking and stares at me in silence, his smile completely disappearing.

"How annoying. You've lost." He says, vanishing from his place. I blink in confusion and he's suddenly in front of me gripping my collar and holding me up. "Too bad you didn't run."

* * *

So far still nothing. I've checked all the cameras, but still no sign of any infiltrators. Hmm? Is that Yukizome?

"Gekkogahara!" She says, jogging to me. "They're in trouble."

They? My fingers fly over my keyboard and Usami's voice plays. "Who are? You mean..."

"Munakata, Sakakura and the Strategist. Someone's taking them out!"

No, that can't be. Munakata alone is a force to reckon with, this can't be possible. "What do we do?"

She starts to panic, pacing and speaking quickly, sweat clearly visible. "I don't know! There's nothing we can do!"

No, I can't leave them to die. He promised me he'd end this, I have to help him! "Guards! Follow us!"

The group of men nod, checking their weapons. Yukizome looks at me confused. "Gekkogahara?"

"We have to save them. Let's go." I type, and shut my laptop as Usami finishes speaking. I look to the men and the Ultimate Housekeeper, who nod and begin to jog out of the building, me following closely behind.

"We went over there." Yukizome says, pointing at a corner to our left. We jog there and follow her directions for awhile until we see... "Kimura?!"

The Pharmacist sees us and runs over, almost falling over. Panting, she tries to talk to us. "Munakata... Someone... Really strong... Killing them!"

Someone really strong? Killing Munakata? "Come with us, Kimura. We're gonna rescue them." Yukizome says.

She nods and we continue to jog until we reach a small hill. "They should be just over this hill. C'mon!" Kimura says, starting to climb. I grab her shoulder and type into my tablet.

"We can't confront this person head-on if they're this strong. Guards, surround the area. We'll go through the middle to distract." Usami says, and the men begin to run off to the sides, hiding behind rocks and raised ground. The three of us nod and climb over the hill and we see two figures, one holding the other up with their hand. Surrounding them are several bodies. Is this the mystery man's power? Suddenly, the man flings the other person several feet away, and looks up to meet us with a pair of red eyes.

* * *

"Company. How thoughtful of your friends to save you." He says. I'm not struggling, there's no point. However...

"You lose." I say, grinning. His neutral expression turns into a frown and he looks down for a second. Then we lock eyes and he smiles, and I see something... sadistic.

"Let's see how you like it. I'll show you how meaningless your hope is." He says, and before I can react he throws me back. No, he's gonna hurt them to throw me to despair. He's looking into the distance, probably where they are. "Give me a moment to get rid of the useless people surrounding us."

He grabs a handful of rocks and starts throwing them one by one, and I hear people getting knocked out one at a time. He has accuracy and strength capable of killing with a pebble. This guy's ridiculous. "Hey, what's your talent?"

He throws his last stone and turns to show me one eye and his sadistic grin. "Super High School Level Despair..." What? That's not... "Despair's Child."

Despair's... Child? He disappears from sight. No, think later, act now. I grab my gun and cock it, finger on the trigger. "Hey, asshole!" I yell.

"You cannot defeat him." Says someone behind me. I turn around, my gun pointed right at the man's head. My hands tremble as I take in his features. Extremely long, black hair. Red, piercing eyes. Tall, intimidating aura. "Despair!"

Mere moments after he shouted that, the other figure appeared next to him, smiling. "Good afternoon, dad."

"Junko wants us." He says, and I flick between them. The tall man with a bored expression and the slightly shorter 'child of despair'.

"Yay, I get to meet mommy!" He says ecstatically, and his 'dad' nods before both disappear from sight again. What the hell was that? There's a small scrap of paper on the floor. I pick it up as I hear footsteps behind me.

 _Strategist, Munakata and Sakakura are fine. Let Kimura take care of them._

Huh. Wonder why he did that. Assuming this claim is legitimate. "Strategist!"

I turn and am greeted with a tight hug from Yukizome. "A little touchy there, miss."

She releases me and smiles. "Yeah yeah, let's get the others!"

She jogs over to Munakata, shaking him. I see his eyes open and they begin to whisper to each other. "Um..."

I turn around to see Gekkogahara looking at my feet. Her hands are holding on tightly to a small tablet. A few moments pass before she seems to relax, and she looks at me and smiles, typing. "Thank goodness you're okay, partner."

"Heh, yeah. Think twice before calling me your partner again, though." I say, grinning and winking at the end of my sentence. Her smile turns to embarrassment and she blushes as she looks around frantically, her mouth forming various shapes but no sound coming from them. "Relax, Gekkogahara. I'm glad to be your partner."

That seems to work and she stops, locking eyes with me. "Thank you..."

"He's okay!" I hear someone say. I turn to where it came from, where Sakakura starts to get up as Kimura holds a half empty bottle in one hand, helping him up with the other. "Relax, Sakakura. It's safe now."

"Wha-?" He says in between coughs. "How?"

"You can thank me later, Boxer." I say with confidence, crossing my arms and striking a pose.

"Idiot." He says, sitting up. "What happened to the guy?"

"Nothing. He ran off saying something about despair." I reply, dropping the pose. Sakakura buys it and sighs, standing up slowly.

"Good work, Strategist." A man says, and I turn to see Munakata being assisted by Yukizome walking to me. "We need to get back to base."

"Are we done with the alarm? I can ask the Chairman to turn it off." Usami says, and Munakata nods. Gekkogahara types something and after awhile the small island falls into complete silence.

"Back to base?" Sakakura asks, stretching his muscles.

Munakata nods and the six of us start to trek back. While walking I feel a tug on my sleeve. "Kimura?"

The Pharmacist darts her eyes around and whispers. "How'd you get him to run away?"

I trust her, but... I can't risk letting anyone know. "Just trust me when I say it wasn't easy."

She accepts the answer and nods, and we continue our walk.

 **A few minutes later**

"You guys okay?" The Great Gozu asks loudly as we enter the lobby. How the hell can someone be this huge?!

"We're fine, Gozu." Replies Munakata. "The situation's been dealt with, and thank to our new member we made it out with everyone alive."

All eyes are drawn to me, and the air grows tense. Thankfully the silence is broken by Tengan. "Congratulations, Strategist. You were just thanked by Munakata."

"Yeah, but it's fine. I had to act to save you guys, I couldn't stand by watching you get picked off." I say, smiling. Tengan nods and smiles as the group disperses. Not much time passes before a voice speaks through the intercom.

"Due to the circumstances, you all have the rest of the day off. Rest and prepare for tomorrow."

"Shall we go?" Asks a familiar, cheery voice. I turn to Gekkogahara, whose laptop bag is slung over her shoulder, her hand gripping her tablet.

"Of course. Lead the way, milady." I say, bowing dramatically. I raise my head just enough to see her as she stares at the floor and shuffles past me. Straightening from the ridiculous position, I follow behind her as we head to the tenth floor and down the same corridors. I'm getting quite familiar with this place. Eventually we finally enter our room, where I immediately collapse onto my mattress, and I hear her bed creak as she presumably does the same. "Hey, Gekkogahara? I had a weird dream."

The bed slightly creaks and I see her sitting on the edge. She's giving me her full attention.

"Well, it was a couple conversations. In the first one I was talking to someone named Maizono. We were talking about something to do with fans, so I'm guessing she was a performer of some sort. The second conversation was with a boy named Makoto Naegi, who said he was the Super High School Level Luckster. Based on what I said he was my junior. Know either of these people?"

She doesn't respond for a few seconds, and I look at her face to find her looking... confused? Scared? Worried?

"What's wrong?" I ask, sitting up. Something's wrong. She points to the TV. I look up at it but the screen is still off. Wait, only one show is playing. Is that what she's referring to? Wait, there's a mutual killing game... No. That's not possible. I lean over and grab my notebook. If I know these people there should be something in here! I flip through some pages and find a long list of names and talents, a majority of whom are labeled as 'Deceased'. Among them is... 'Super High School Level Idol, Sayaka Maizono'. She's... dead? What about that Naegi guy? Makoto Naegi... no label. I guess he's fine then. But if they're in the mutual killing game, locked away in Hope's Peak right now, then doesn't that mean... "I knew them while they were in school?"

The bed creaks and I see Gekkogahara walking to her computer, powering it on. After some clicking and typing Usami's voice starts to play. "Apparently so. but why did you remember this? Nothing could've prompted you to..."

"I don't have any idea either, but this doesn't really help much. Even if I had interacted with those guys, most of them are dead now, and all of them are locked in that school." I say, lying back down. "We shouldn't worry too much, just write this down somewhere."

"I guess so." Usami says, but she continues. "So, how'd you get the mystery man to run away?"

I feel my muscles tense. I can't lie to her. "Please keep this secret. Someone called him. A man with long, black hair. That and his black suit were his only defining features. The 'mystery man' himself claimed his title was 'Super High School Level Despair's Child'."

The room falls silent. The typing that would normally follow wasn't present, and I could even hear her breathing faster. I pick myself up and walk to her. She's frozen in her seat, her eyes barely even blinking. I place my hands on her shoulders and shake her. "Gekkogahara? Hey! Answer me!"

She shakes her head and blinks a few times, and her eyes slowly look up to mine. Her hands move to her keyboard and she types something, allowing Usami to speak. "That's not a title... that's who he is."

* * *

 **AN Stuff**

 **Thanks for reading! I'm editing this literally minutes before my deadline so I hope you find it satisfactory! As always please feel free to provide me with any feedback, I appreciate anything from you guys!**

 **Update: Sorry guys, I'm gonna be busy for the next two weeks. I'm gonna be putting this story on a short break, and you'll be seeing chapter 8 on November 16.**

 _ ** _ **A picture is worth a thousand words  
But a thousand words can paint a picture**_**_


	8. A New Experience

"That's who he is?" I repeat. Her blue eyes meet mine and she nods. "But who's Super High School Level Despair?"

She looks down in thought, and I remember. "Wait, this kid called that man 'dad'. His 'dad' mentioned someone named Junko, and the kid called her his 'mom'. That must mean that one of if not both of those are Super High School Level Despair." Wait, I can check. I walk over to my notebook and grab it, looking through the list of names. At the very bottom are two names with two titles each. "Mukuro Ikusaba, Super High School Level Soldier/Despair. Junko Enoshima, Super High School Level Fashionista/True Despair."

Looking up from the page I see Gekkogahara typing, and the ever-so-cheerful Usami speaks. "So the question now is who of those two is the mother."

"Yes, but I think I can already answer that." I say. She turns to look at me expectantly. "It has to be this 'Enoshima'. Ikusaba is... deceased."

Her neutral expression turns into a frown, and she turns back to her computer to type. "I see... But either way, something doesn't make sense."

"What?" I ask.

"Even if she and the man you met are the child's parents... well, Enoshima must be part of that class, so how can the child be a teen or adult when his parents, or at least his mother, is still a teenager?"

That's valid. Enoshima must still be a high school student. So how can a child she give birth to be a teenager when she isn't even twenty yet? Dammit strategist, think. You have one talent you better use it. Look at the situation from all angles, never dismissing even the most ridiculous of ideas. Could it be? Might as well throw it out there. "Hey, what if he isn't actually their son?"

"What do you mean?" Usami asks. I take a deep breath and look at her.

"What if he's adopted? If Enoshima couldn't have given birth to him, it's possible that he was just another teen and the people he sees as his parents just indoctrinated him." I say. Damn that's horrible. He could've had a regular, happy life. But he ended up meeting Enoshima somehow. And if he was up for adoption, that means he was thrown from loneliness into the hands of despair itself. Poor kid.

"That makes sense. The idea seems to have slipped my mind. Nice work Strategist! But it's quite sad, isn't it." Usami says, and Gekkogahara looks at the floor. I sigh, and walk over to her, squatting beside her until I'm at eye level.

"It may be sad, but that doesn't mean it's over for him. It seems he's been made to love seeing despair. But that doesn't mean he's hopeless. We have to try and save him. It appears he has talent with how fast and strong he is. We have to show him that he can help fix this mess." I say, smiling. She relaxes a bit, and she sighs, nodding. "C'mon, let's go to the cafeteria to get rid of this horrible mood."

As soon as I finished my sentence, her head shot up and she locked eyes with me, shaking her head. Realizing how confused I am, she turns to her keyboard and types. "Sorry, I don't feel like eating right now."

"That's a lie, isn't it?" I ask rhetorically. She sighs and nods, typing again.

"Yes. I'm sorry, but I don't ever go there. It's scary being around so many others, and lots of things can happen in a room full of people." Usami says as the therapist frowns. So she's afraid of something going wrong, and true, bad things often happen with large groups of people.

"Well don't worry, Gekkogahara. As the Ultimate Strategist, I swear to you that nothing bad will happen. We'll just go down there and chat over a meal." I say, maintaining my smile. She looks at me and relaxes, nodding. "Right then. I'll wait in your office."

I turn and as I walk to my bag I hear her turn off her computer. I grab my bag and leave the room, entering her office. I sit on a soft office chair and pull out my notebook. Better write down everything that happened in case I forget.

* * *

"How's it going, mother?" He says excitedly, beaming at the camera.

"Oh, it's going well. Lots of wonderful despair is happening, but that damn luckster and the nosy detective are being a real pain in the ass!"

"Oh they're still alive? You'd think someone would've killed Kyoko by now but I guess not." He says, looking down in sadness. "They can't even figure out her title after she discovered things so small that her talent is obvious. They're all so hopeless."

He raises his head to lock eyes through the screen with her, grinning and tearing up. In a voice of pure despair, he laughs, speaking between laughs. "Isn't it... hahah... isn't it wonderful?"

"Yeah, yeah. Hey, Izuru~!" She says, exaggerating her excitement. "It's so lonely here without you... Don't you want to come and comfort me~?"

"No." I say, walking out of the small room and leaving the two to their despair.

* * *

The door clicks and I look at it as it swings open, revealing Gekkogahara standing with her tablet in hand. She's just wearing her usual attire, but for whatever reason she's visibly nervous. "You okay?"

"Do I look okay?" Usami asks through her phone. She looks as she normally does, but I suppose she's nervous about stepping out of her comfort zone.

"You look great, Gekkogahara. C'mon, our free day isn't getting any longer." I say, smiling. She looks down and murmurs to herself, but I just put on my bag and hold open the office door for her. A few seconds pass and she looks up, and upon realizing I've been standing holding the door she quickly walks over. She leads the way as we leave the area, going to the elevators. We enter one and she presses the button for the second floor. The doors close and the machine begins to descend. I should probably start a conversation to keep her calm.

"So... Any reason you haven't been to the cafeteria despite working and living here?" I ask.

"Not really... I'm just uncomfortable in those types of social places." Usami says, and her eyes are glued to the lower part of the wall.

"It's fine, Gekkogahara. I'll show you how much nicer it is than you think." I say, putting my hand on her shoulder. Upon touching her, she freezes and her face turns very slightly red. Her fingers type, but much slower than she usually does.

"Thank you, Strategist." Usami says, and thankfully the lift stops and the doors open. She walks out as soon as she can and I follow, and after a few turns we arrive at the cafeteria. It looks like a standard one, tables and chairs everywhere, a couple of counters to buy your food from. Lots of people sitting around, some eating in silence and others chatting loudly in large groups. This area on its own doesn't give any Future Foundation vibe at all. Well, except for the fact that most of these guys are in matching black suits.

"So, where do you-" I start, turning to my partner, but I stop upon seeing how uncomfortable she is. She's fricking shaking. I guess the only way I can calm her down is to make her focus on me. Making my decision, I pick up my courage and take a deep breath. Then I smile, making myself feel as happy and hopeful as I can, grabbing her hand. "Come on Gekkogahara! Let's sit over here!"

As I step in front of her and lightly pull her hand, I turn around and lock eyes with her, mine full of life and joy, and hers in a mixture of confusion, embarrassment and shock. A light blush has formed and I smile brighter, putting my other hand on hers. She looks down at our hands, and after a short pause she looks up at me and smiles. I turn back around and release her, jogging to an empty table. She follows and sits opposite me, the blush not leaving and a smile planted on her face. "You look great, Gekkogahara."

Her smile falters, and she looks down, turning an even brighter shade of red. Her hand reaches for her pocket, probably to get Usami. I reach over and stop her, locking eyes. "Don't worry about it, I'll get our food. Save my place, okay?"

Her eyes still glued to the table, she nods slightly and I stand up, heading for the counter. Looking through the menus hanging above it, I realize I have no idea what she wants. I'll just pick one and hope she likes it. I walk over to the counter and tell the man our orders, and he hands me a number on a stand. "Put this on your table. Make sure it's visible. Someone'll bring your food in roughly 20 minutes."

"Thanks." I say, grabbing the object. Walking back to the table, I see some people sitting next to Gekkogahara. Sitting down, I place the number near the side and smile at the strangers. "Good afternoon, you are?"

"Huh? I already told you who I am when we rescued you." The woman says, taking out a piece of candy and putting it in the mouth of the man beside her. "What, is your amnesia so bad you can't even remember that?"

"Well yes, actually. I've forgotten everything that happened yesterday." I say, ignoring the man's comment on how great the candy tasted.

"Seriously? Well can't be helped I guess. I'm Ruruka Ando, and this is Sonosuke Izayoi. We're the 8th and 9th division heads respectively." She says, the man silently nodding. If it weren't for him calling that candy 'delicious', I'd be fairly intimidated by this guy. Not as much as Munakata makes me feel, but definitely up there. "So, what are you two doing here? I've literally never seen Gekkogahara in here, and one day partnered up with you and here she is. What the hell did you do?"

"I didn't 'do' anything, I just asked her to join me down here. I'm still new after all, and this is a pretty good learning experience for both of us." I reply. I look over at the therapist, and smile at her. She nods, and closes her eyes, breathing deeply. "Well, how about you two?"

"We come here sometimes on our free time. None of the regulars are here though, so I guess we'll be going." Ando says, and the two stand up in almost perfect synchronization. As she's about to walk, she locks eyes with me. "You're a pretty nice guy, you know? Good luck dealing with Munakata though, he's a pretty big pain in the ass to work for from what I hear."

"I'll take note of that. See you around, Ando." I reply as she starts to walk away, chatting with Izayoi. I turn back to Gekkogahara, and she visibly relaxes. "it wasn't too bad, was it?"

She nods, smiling at me. My smile disappears, and I think for a few moments, before sighing in relief and looking at Gekkogahara again. "They seem like decent people. They don't look like despair material, and nothing she said sounds suspicious."

My partner sighs too, and nods. A few more minutes of this pass, with me asking some yes or no question and her responding with a shake or nod of the head. By the time our food arrived, we managed to hold a few conversations despite her still being too shy to speak. Sometimes she laughed lightly at a joke I made, and she just seemed so much happier and more relaxed compared to earlier today. It's like she's never been able to just sit back and chat like this, which is entirely possible considering she's too shy to speak. We ate in silence, and once we finished we left the cafeteria heading back to the room. When we entered our room, I sat down next to her on her bed, smiling.

Glancing at her, she looked confused. "Hey, you don't understand why I'm smiling right?"

She nods, and I chuckle. "I just went to the cafe with you for the first time for both of us, and not once did you have to use Usami to talk to me."

Upon realizing this, her face turns to that of amazement and happiness, and she smiles at me. She pulls out her tablet, typing quickly. "Yeah, it was great being able to do that. No one really just relaxes and talks to me like you did because I can't talk, but you still did. Thank you, Strategist."

I feel my face heat up slightly and I realize she's blushing too, her eyes glued to her tablet, still smiling. "No problem, Gekkogahara."

* * *

 **AN Stuff**

 **Okay so I know I took a 2 week break, and this chapter's another uneventful chapter plot-wise and also another short chapter. However, I have to stop for awhile. I won't be posting another chapter until the last Wednesday of November, November 30. I'm so sorry, but I just had to type this chapter so as to satisfy you guys for now. I hope you'll stick around that long and as always, feedback is greatly appreciated.**

 _ **A picture is worth a thousand words  
But a thousand words can paint a picture**_


	9. OVERDUE UPDATE

**Okay, this will be short and nothing but an update. So lots of crazy crap is going on again and I have almost no time nor energy to carry on posting this on a decently active schedule. So now, I will still post, however my chapters will be quite far apart. I know it's been awhile and I'm very sorry, but I'll be shifting my post day to every other Saturday at the same time, starting from February 4th. Once again, I am very sorry, and I hope you guys stick around.**

 ** _A picture is worth a thousand words  
But a thousand words can paint a picture_**


	10. Questions

"You not gonna sleep yet?" I ask, desperately trying to dry my hair.

"No, I have to write a few more emails." Usami replies.

"Alright. Just remember to sleep at a somewhat appropriate time. It's no good working on fumes." I say as I start rubbing my hands through my hair. Long hair's a pain. "Hey, is there a barber or something somewhere?"

"Yes. If I remember right it's on the second floor, a bit further than the cafeteria." She replies as I finally finish. "Would you like me to take you there tomorrow?"

"Yeah. Actually I might end up forgetting everything again so just prepare for that, okay?" I reply, sitting on my mattress. I see her nod and I lie down. "Thanks. Good night Gekkogahara."

"Good night, Strategist."

* * *

"Junko. Oy, Junko!" I shout.

"Hmm?" She hums as she turns to face me. "Oh! Afternoon, upperclassman! Do you want to talk?"

"Isn't that obvious? Follow me." I say, turning around. Walking up the stairs, I hear her footsteps behind me. Of course, that's not all I notice. "Mukuro, no point in hiding."

"Seriously sis? You're getting sloppy you fat ugly moron." The fashionista says. I just barely hear the soldier's feet hit the floor.

"Sorry, Junko. I just wanted to make sure he didn't try anything." The soldier says.

"We're here." I announce as we arrive at the top.

"The roof! What an interesting choice of location!" Junko says, leaning on a railing, her sister standing behind her on constant alert.

"You're unusual, Junko. You have more than one talent. Isn't that right; Fashionista, Analyst and Despair?" I say. Mukuro audibly inhales, obviously shocked.

"Hmm? What's this? Someone's figured me out? Well, I'm shocked! You discovered the truth before the Ultimate Detective!" She says, clapping. "Now what will you do, hm?"

"Nothing. It's pointless to try and prevent you from doing what you'll do, so go ahead with your plans." I reply.

"Seriously?! You figure out everything and you don't wanna do anything about it?!" She shrieks.

"Of course not. I'm the Ultimate Strategist. You may be the Analyst, but I know numerous ways to stop you. However, that would be pointless. You are also Despair. You should know that for there to be despair there must be hope." I say.

"Huh?"

"So I will let you continue with your plans. And at the end of it all, you will feel the despair you so desire." I say, turning to the exit.

"Hahahah! You think I'll mess up?!" She says, laughing.

I stop at the top step, turning my head to look at her. "Of course. It's in your heart."

* * *

Kyosuke Munakata. Although he's called the vice chairman, he dictates most of what happens in the Future Foundation. Junko's game will be over soon, and the survivors will begin working for them. I wonder what that will lead to? Are they all capable of working together, or will infighting result in Junko's overall victory?

The mutual killing is ending, but the war between hope and despair is far from done.

"Daaaaad!" Here comes her product. "I'm booooored!"

Obviously. He throws a punch, and I dodge it. He kicks, and I catch his leg, throwing him. He adjusts himself in midair to land on his feet. He's on the ground for less than a split second before immediately sprinting at me, his left hand reaching for my neck. I move to the side slightly, and as he misses I grab his arm and flip him, forcing him to the floor. Our eyes meet and he smiles.

"As good as ever, dad."

"If you're in need of entertainment, talk to Junko. She can give you a task."

Assuming she's not occupied. "Good idea! See ya later!"

I wave my hand once at his retreating figure.

* * *

Why is this happening? In two days I got partnered up with an amnesiac, the base was attacked, and I was dragged into the cafeteria. I'm surprised I'm still sane. Deep breaths, Miaya. Inhale... Exhale. Inhale... Exhale. Well, looking on the bright side, he's a nice guy. He's as intelligent as I'd expect from the Ultimate Strategist. He's selfless, almost got himself killed to give us a chance to survive. To be honest, I kind of like him. I mean, as a person! He's a great person! Above all... He's stuck with me. Despite never speaking to him, he still happily chats with me. He's been the first person that I could really call a friend. I can't let this despair that's enveloped the world bring him down. I want to enjoy the new world, rid of despair, with him.

He's been with us for two days, and he already gives me hope.

* * *

 **The following morning**

I sit up and yawn. That was strange. A dream, or a memory? Well, whatever. Guess I better check the time. Standing up, I walk over to the computer table and feel for what might be a power button. Finding something circular, I press the button and the screen lights up. A picture of Usami appears with a space to enter a password beneath it. At the bottom right of the screen are a digital clock, an option to turn off the computer and something I don't know. Apparently it's... 7AM. Wait... Yup, I heard that right. Turning around, I see the small figure of Gekkogahara shifting around to wake herself up.

"Mmmm.." She hums, before yawning. She's sitting up now, stretching her arms high above her head. I've yet to actually see her sleeping attire, but it's just a set of black pajama pants and a matching tank top. Speaking of which, her stretching combined with that shirt is... She's oblivious to me right now, isn't she?

"Gekkogahara?" I say aloud to attract her attention. Upon speaking she freezes and turns slowly to me, the light behind me illuminating her scared blue eyes. At a ridiculous speed, she brings down her arms and covers herself with her blanket up to her neck. "Sorry, I guess I woke you up. Want me to get your towel so you can bathe?"

She nods and I enter the bathroom, grabbing her slightly wetter towel again and returning to her bedside. Handing it to her, she covers her exposed skin with it and walks to the toilet, locking the door. That was an eventful morning. Using the light from the computer, I make my way to the light switch next to the door and flick it on. I guess I should save my own bath for after I get my haircut. I sit down on her significantly softer bed and look around. On her bedside table are her tablet and some sort of book. I crawl over to it and bring it with me to my previous position. 'Hades', huh. Interesting book name. I'll just read this while I wait.

I wonder how they can save her... someone's shaking me. Oh! Looking up, I slam the book shut. "Uh, hi Gekkogahara! Sorry, I started reading without your permission." She shakes her head and smiles, heading for her computer. I quickly stand up, realizing something. "Gekkogahara? How do I remember all this?"

Pausing for a moment, she runs Usami's program. Shortly after, the cheerful bunny starts to talk. "You're right. How much do you remember?"

I think for a second and notice it. "Everything. At least everything this week. Fighting off Ultimate Despair, getting the map to lead me here, fighting them again, getting captured and immediately rescued, and the past couple days."

"Interesting. So for whatever reason you are remembering more and more while with us. I guess we're doing something right. Let's not think too hard on this since we have no leads. Let's go to the barber first." Usami says as the Therapist stands up, walking to the door. I nod and stand up, following her outside.

* * *

"Alright, thanks Gekkogahara! I remember the way, so you can go back to work now!" He says, smiling as he sits in the waiting room. I raise my hand slightly and wave it a bit before turning and leaving. Upon closing the door behind me, I sigh. I hope I didn't seem cold or anything. But more importantly, I have to let Munakata know. I start to walk, pulling out my tablet and sending the vice-chairman a message.

 _The Strategist seems to be regaining some memories. This is not causing any problems.  
_

Send. I'm in the lift now, and I take it down to my floor, switching off my tablet and keeping it under my arm. The doors open and I start walking. So first I should check the systems for any general problems, then I'll check email, and finally I'll ensure no one has been hacked into. Ah, I'm here. As I enter the room, my mind wanders. It's fun, having him as a partner. Ever since the Tragedy it's been nothing but work, and everyone's so serious all the time. It's uplifting to have someone like him, serious but still able to smile and joke around and relax. He reminds me of how things were before despair enveloped the world. I sigh as I unlock my door and sit in my wheelchair, powering up the attached computer. Time to work.

* * *

"Thanks a bunch!" I say, waving at the barber as I leave. Man they did a good job! Time to head back. Wait... which way was it? I look left and right but don't find anything to help me. I don't have one of those tablets either. Guess I should just walk around for a bit, I might be able to find a sign or something. How about... Left! I walk down the hallway and find another split. Who designs a building with this many splits? Right. Walking down this much longer hallway, I see a tall guy carrying some boxes. Asking him is the fastest way to find out. I walk up to him and speak up when nearing him. "Hey, Sakakura!"

He stops walking and turns around, raising an eyebrow. "What?"

"What's in those boxes?" I ask, maintaining my smile.

"Stuff." He says, and I notice him avoiding eye contact. "Is that all you came to me for?"

"Nah, I was gonna ask where the lifts are. I wasn't paying attention when Gekkogahara brought me here."

"Oh, they're over there." He says, gesturing past me. As I open my mouth to thank him, I decide to try something. "Hey, Sakakura?"

"What now?" He asks.

"Are you Munakata's right hand man or something? You're always hanging around him when you're not working and you two seem to know each other well."

"Wha?" He stumbles a bit, and the box on his shoulder wobbles and he quickly lifts his other hand to balance it. He clears his throat. "No, I'm just protecting this world's hope."

"I see. You value him over yourself, don't you?" I ask, and he nods. "Admirable. Few people can truly be selfless, and although your methods are quite aggressive and sometimes violent, you've gained my respect. Thanks for the directions, I'll see ya around."

"Yeah." He says as I turn my back to him and walk. "Hey, Strategist?"

"Hm?" I turn my head to look at him, and his eyes are looking into space.

"I'm not selfless. I'm just a tough-ass screw-up." He says, his free hand clenching.

"That may be the case, but even if you make horrendous mistakes in the past, you have the future to make up for it." I reply, smiling softly. He snaps out of his trance, locking eyes with me for a while.

"Yeah. The future." He says, turning and walking away.

I turn back and walk down the hallway. Based on that, I'm sure he's safe. Although through questionable means, he does fight for hope. I continue my walk to our office, and eventually arrive at our door. Knocking twice, I open the door and see Gekkogahara typing away in her wheelchair. She's so focused she doesn't even notice my arrival. I tiptoe behind her and put my hands on her shoulders. Upon contact, she freezes and doesn't move for a solid 5 seconds. I start to apply slight pressure and massage her, and she takes a second to relax. "It's busy being a leader, huh?"

She hums in agreement as I massage the back of her neck. After a minute I let go and step in front of her. "How was it?"

She doesn't respond but upon realizing something she sits up and uses her scarf to try and hide her blush. "It's fine, partner. There's no need to hide anything. I'll shower and then we'll talk about work, okay?"

She nods slightly and I walk into our room, removing my pajamas. Wait, pajamas?! Looking at the clothes I threw to the floor, I confirm that I had just gone for a haircut and spoken to the most terrifying man in the building in pajamas. Crap. Well, what's done is done. Sighing, I walk into the bathroom and turn on the lights, looking at myself in the mirror. Thanks to Despair's child I'm even more bruised now. Barber did a good job. I walk into the shower and turn on the water, relaxing once more as the warm water rains down. Junko, huh? If my dreams are memories, this means I knew something. She was the Ultimate Despair, so she was obviously up to something. According to that dream though, I knew how to stop her and prevent this Tragedy. However, why didn't I? Was I afraid? No, It's undeniable. My own words hold the answer. I was arrogant. I let her do what she wanted. But why did I?

* * *

"I've been wondering." I say to Mom. "Who am I, or rather who was I?"

She laughs. "Well I won't tell you! You have so much power you should be able to figure out something this simple!"

I smile at her. "Of course it's like that mommy. I'll go find out then." I stand up and leave the monitor. Although I expected that, I suppose being that hopelessly predictable is her desire. On to my true question though, who am I? Who... was I? Before this. Before them. What was I? A regular student? An Ultimate?

"Has your existential crisis finally arrived?" I turn to the source of the voice, my father. Truly predictable, though not like mommy who tries to avoid it.

"Yes, it has." I reply, sitting on the floor. "Are you going to help me?"

"No." Of course. "This must be discovered by you and only one other. Only then will you both accept the truth, however I know it won't go well."

"Why don't you stop it if it's so bad? Why didn't you stop the Tragedy? Why didn't you stop mom?" I ask, my voice getting louder and... angrier?

"Because it is not my place to interfere in these affairs." He replies, turning and walking away.

Why was I angry?

* * *

 **AN Stuff**

 **Hey guys, assuming anyone is still interested. Sorry for disappearing on all of you and I'm so sorry for being about a week late but next chapter will be the last Saturday of February. I hope this wasn't too lacking, writer's block is a real tough thing to get through. I'll do my best though, so I hope you all bear with me! See ya next time!**

 _ **A picture is worth a thousand words  
But a thousand words can paint a picture**_


	11. The Beginning

**Author's Note**

 **This chapter contains a scene of attempted rape. There is a warning before the scene.**

* * *

Despair has many purposes. Some use it to extract information. Some use it purely for destruction. Some use it to grow stronger. But in the end it still exists, crushing the hopes and dreams of people. More often than not, one man's success is another man's despair. It's an endless cycle of pain. But I don't care about that. I'm strong enough to never feel that despair, and anyone who succumbs to it is nothing but a weakling. Only the worthless give in to the despair, so an Ultimate Despair is the definition of weakness.

* * *

"Ah!" I shout, banging into a wall. What was up with that? Guess I was daydreaming? I doubt it, that didn't feel like my own thought process. Perhaps my subconscious retained my memories and personality, and that's what I was hearing? If that's the case, then what kind of a guy was I back then? I suppose these questions are baseless, so I'll ignore this for now. Anyways, looks like I'm here. "I'm back!"

Closing the door behind me, Usami replies. "Welcome back, Strategist!"

"How do I look, partner?" I say, striking the best pose I can. I see her typing but she's covered herself with her scarf. Wait, that's just her face. Heh. "I'll take it I look good."

She nods slightly and I stop posing. She types as I open our room's door. "So, how did it go?"

"It was fine." I say, backing into the office and sitting opposite her. "I saw Sakakura and investigated him."

She flinches, and I chuckle. "Nothing like that. I just chatted with him."

She relaxes and begins to type but I cut her off. "Gekkogahara, there's no need to type as much with me. I know you well enough. Anyways, no, he's not working for despair or anything. He's just a real violent dude."

She pauses and then nods, her lips turning into a smile as she closes her eyes for a moment. Then she opens them and looks at me. She doesn't do anything, opting to look me in the eyes for a while. I simply stand there calmly maintaining eye contact. She then breaks it and goes back to her computer, her cheeks tinged with a light red. "So, I take it you're enjoying your time here?"

I chuckle. "Minus nearly being killed by some stranger who almost destroyed this organization, yeah."

She starts to panic slightly and I hold her wrist. "I'm kidding, partner. Even with that I'm happy being here. Especially with you to help me out."

The redness grows darker as she looks down, suddenly finding her lap to be very interesting. "I'll stop messing around now and let you get to work, okay Gekkogahara? If ya need me I'll be in the room." She nods slightly and I enter our bedroom. I sigh and smile for a moment, before remembering my dreams. "I really need to figure that out."

I sit on my bed, leaning against the wall with my diary in my hands. Flipping through the pages mindlessly I notice something. A page keeps skipping. I flip to it and realize that two pages have been stuck together. It's sealed perfectly, no way to see what's inside. Perhaps... I get up and knock on the door, opening it. "Hey, Gekkogahara? Do you have a flashlight?" She nods and opens a drawer, passing it to me. "Thanks." I say as I retreat into the room. I turn off the lights and power up the flashlight, shining it's beam of light at the pages. Sure enough I see some scribbled writing, but it's hard to tell what it says. I grab my pen and rip out another page, writing what I believe to be the words in the pages. After about half an hour of scrutinizing the pages, I piece together what I wrote.

 _Hello Strategist,_

 _You may be confused and I'm sure it took you a long time to find this. In fact I'm sure you're safe right now, maybe with the Ultimate Despair or with the Future Foundation. Either way, here's a hint. There are traitors on both sides. You'll regain your memory when you find True Hope. Although where that will bring you even I don't know._

 _Signed,  
_ ** _Hiroto Katsu_**

Eh? Hiroto Katsu? Is... is that my name? It... It has to be, right? That's my name, right?! It is! It must be!

* * *

 **The previously mentioned scene occurs in the following paragraphs. Please prepare yourself.**

* * *

"Goddammit." He says, his fists clenching and unclenching. "I haven't had sex since this whole thing started, doc."

"I understand, but we're all suffering. After we fix the world you can find your love."

"That's too long, doc!" He shouts, standing up and knocking back his chair. He suddenly leans forward and looks at me, clearly losing his ability to think straight. "You look pretty good for your place, doc. I bet you haven't had any either."

I try to type but find the keyboard and screen pushed away. Suddenly he grabs my hands and bends me over the table, standing behind me. No, no no no no no no! I have to stop him!

"Pretty nice ass for someone who's been sitting the whole time. I bet your 'partner' hasn't been treating you like a woman has he? I'll show ya how to feel good. Then you'll never wanna get anyone else."

He's lost it. He's completely absorbed in his thoughts. I feel my pants and udnerwear fall, and something brushes against my butt. I can guess what it is. I have to get help. "STRATEGIST!"

* * *

Hiroto Katsu, huh? Pretty cool name.

"STRATEGIST!"

The hell? Who was that? It's nearby, and it's despearate sounding. Could it be? I jump up and open the door. "GEKKOGAHARA? WHAT'S-"

What the fuck? She's sobbing, bent over as a some big dude is standing behind her. Her pants have been removed. "She's being raped. You're raping her. MY PARTNER."

"Fuck!" He yells, stepping backwards. He barely reacts as I throw a chair at him, and it hits his head. He staggers back into the wall and I run into him, lifting my knee and hitting him between the legs. I step back and he kneels, and I put my shoe on his head and step on it, knocking him to the floor. I kick his stomach and he collapses completely, barely moving.

"Gekkogahara! Are you okay?" I ask, turning around. She's lying on the floor, not bothering about her lack of clothing, too busy crying. I sit next to her, waiting for her to notice me. "You okay now?"

She nods, and I open my arms to hug her. She accepts and moves into my embrace. I pat her back softly as she finishes sobbing. We stay like that for awhile before she backs out of the hug. I look at her features. She's disgusting, covered in mucus and tears. But I don't care. I smile softly, and she wipes away the tears. I stand and help her get on her feet, walking her into our room. I grab some tissues and help her wipe away the mucus and tears, throwing away all the tissues she uses. Eventually she calms down and lays on her bed. I pull a chair from her office and sit next to her. "Thanks."

I look at her. She spoke again. Her voice is soft and gentle this time, not like earlier when it was a shriek. I smile at her. "No problem. Oh, by the way."

She perks up, her full attention on me. "Pleasure to meet you, Miaya Gekkogahara. My name is Hiroto Katsu, The Ultimate Strategist."

She's shocked for a moment, and she smiles and nods. I stand to go to her office, stopping at the door. "I'm gonna let Munakata know about what just happened. Just rest for now, okay?" She nods and hugs her bolster, and I leave the room. I pull up another chair and sit behind her desk, waiting for the rapist to get up. An hour passes before I hear him stirring.

"What the hell happened?" He says, trying to get up. He falls back down in pain. He opts to get into a sitting position, leaning on the wall. "Who are you?"

"I'm Hiroto Katsu, Ultimate Strategist. I knocked you out an hour ago." I say, picking up a phone and looking at a list of names and numbers. I press the buttons and after one ring it's picked up.

"Gekkogahara?"

"Hey, Munakata."

"Strategist? What happened?"

"Gekkogahara's resting. I'm with the guy who just tried to rape her. Wanna pick up this filth?"

A pause. "Understood. I'm going there personally."

I put down the phone and look at the man. "Congratulations, you're about to meet Kyosuke Munakata one-on-one."

Struck by fear, he crawls towards me. "Please man, Don't do this. He'll fuck me up, man."

I look deep into his eyes and with all of my hatred I tell him, "You fucked up first."

* * *

I hear two knocks and the door opens, revealing Munakata with two guards behind him. Strapped to his waist is his sword. His hand is on its hiltbut upon seeing the situation he lets go. Looking at me, he speaks. "I take it you dealt with him?"

"Yeah. It's up to you what you want to do now." I reply, looking at the bastard. "I'd say that, but if you don't mind what happens I'd prefer to deal with him myself."

Munakata narrows his eyes at me, and closes them. After a pause, he nods. "Fine. Whatever you plan on doing, don't disturb the other members here, okay?"

"No problem." I reply, and Munkata turns to leave. "Also,"

He turns his head. "People here believe in you, Munakata. Don't let them down, and get rid of this despair."

"I will. I'll end this Tragedy even if it costs me my life." He replies, leaving the room.

I look back to the man, who's still sitting there. "So? What are you gonna do to me?"

"I'm gonna torture you." I reply.

"What? You're kidding, right?" He says, fear in his eyes. "I mean, this is a joke right? You can barely contain your laughter, right?"

"Huh?" I realize I'm smiling. "I guess I'm excited to give you what you deserve. Let's go, shall we?"

"No, please man I fucked up! Please! Don't do this!" He shouts, panicking and trying to crawl away.

"Shut up." I say, kicking his head knocking him out. I squat and put his shoulder around me and standing. I then walk to the lifts and go to the ground floor, bringing him all the way to where I met Despair's Child. I throw him onto the dirt and wait.

* * *

I don't know much about me. I only know my parents and what they do, but who am I? I think I'll go meet the Strategist again. Maybe he regained some memory and maybe he knew about me. As I think this, I run to the pier nearby and get in a speedboat, sailing it to the Future Foundation HQ. Eventually making it, I go the way I came and find the space I fought them at. There I see it. Is that him? And who's he dragging along?

* * *

"Hey there, Strategist."

I stand at the sound of that voice. "You again. What are you here for?"

He appears a few meters in front of me. "Nothing this time. I was wondering if you regained any memories yet."

"I have, but what's it got to do with you?"

"You have? Then do you know anything about me?"

"Huh?" About him? "You're Despair's Child, but I don't remember Junko having a kid."

He appears shocked. "When was that memory from?"

"I dunno, before the Tragedy if I had to guess. Why? Do you not know who you are?"

He hesitates. "No, I don't."

"I see."

We stay looking at each other when I hear the man stir. "Where am I?"

"Who's that?"

"A rapist."

"Woah."

I walk to the man, squatting beside him. "Remember who I am, dipshit?"

He looks and after a short while he tries to back up, falling on his butt. "Y-y-you're th-the Strategist."

"That's right. Now I'm going to hurt you." I say, before looking at Despair's Child. "Wanna help me out?"

He smiles. "You're torturing him for raping your partner, aren't you?" He says, chuckling. "Sure, why not."

"Great, then in that case..."

* * *

 **AN Stuff**

 **Okay, so I've been out of it for awhile and I really wanted to start getting to the more serious stuff, so this is shorter than I know it should be. I hope you can forgive me, but Once I get back into the swing of things I will bring you great things with our newly-named Strategist! I know this chapter isn't that good especially considering what a big thing I did with ATTEMPTED RAPE. But As always reviews are greatly appreciated and I'd also like you to tell me if you'd rather I get on with the story or if you'd like a couple more fillers for me to get used to writing again. As always thanks for reading, and I'll see you next time!**

 _ **A picture is worth a thousand words  
But a thousand words can paint a picture**_


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